Kanagawa Blues
by Pollux Unbound
Summary: Koshino breaks up with Sendoh and transfers to Shohoku, enters the team, makes friends and falls in love with Ayako...What about Miyagi? just read : CONCLUDED!
1. Cruel Summer

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

**Part 1: Cruel Summer**

(This fic'll get more complicated later on in the story)

Summer. The Ryonan basketball team had been practicing three times a week, four hours each day. They had been haunted by their dreams, the dark days when they had their practice everyday, save Sunday, seven hours. But those days were over, they had to forget the sad moments, heavy practice, Taoka's irritating voice and their loss to Shohoku. They had to look forward to the next season, they promised to make Shohoku and Kainan pay. But they could relax; next season was still three months away. They had appointed their next captain as well as sub-captain, none other than Akira Sendoh and Hiroaki Koshino respectively. They organized the team quite well and they were able to recruit freshmen with potentials. 

All was going well until Sendoh called out to Koshino.

"You've been acting weird lately, you're losing-I mean have you forgotten-" Sendoh was cut short.

"No, I haven't. I know next season will be the last for us and I'm not losing energy. Now if you don't mind I have some things to attend to, excuse me." Koshino said.

Sendoh watched as Koshino turned away from him and went to practice. Sendoh could hardly believe what had just happened. Koshino had never, in his life, spoken to him like that. He didn't even look at him or turn to look back.

"Can it be that he doesn't think I'm worthy of being captain? Or is he losing hope for our team for Ikegami and Uozumi-sempai have left?" He thought.

The questions rang in his head even after practice. "I have to talk to him and he will have to listen to me or else…" Sendoh thought although he could hardly bear it. He rubbed his cheek as he walked with his head down and bumped into someone. 

It was Hikoichi Aida. Before he could apologize, his attention fell on the boy next to Hikoichi. It was Koshino.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you, stupid of me not to see a tall guy like you, Sendoh-sempai." Hikoichi apologized.

"No, it was my fault I wasn't looking…er, where are you two going?" Sendoh said.

Before Hikoichi could answer,

"Home." Koshino said blankly.

"Koshino-san, I thought we were going to Tom's Diner and have dinner there?" Hikoichi asked in disappointment. Sendoh looked away.

"I'm tired, I need to rest. And besides I've suddenly lost my appetite."  Koshino answered.

"Well, I guess I'll have to eat by myself…" Hikoichi said.

"I'll eat with you, I haven't eaten for nine hours so I guess I'll join you." Sendoh said.

"Alright then, we'll see you on Thursday, Koshino-san." Hikoichi said.

Koshino said goodbye to them without even looking at Sendoh.

On their way to the restaurant, Sendoh turned to Hikoichi and asked,

"What's wrong with him?"

"Wrong with who?"

"With Hiro-chan-I mean Koshino."

"I'm sorry I don't know, Sendoh-sempai, he's been not into the right mood these days, he, er, he doesn't seem to be doing well during practice." Hikoichi answered.

Sendoh didn't say anything more until they reached the place. They ordered their food and ate quietly. Hikoichi noticed that Sendoh was now acting like Koshino. The sophomore couldn't bear the silence so he asked,

          "Is something wrong…" he paused. "…between you and Koshino-sempai?"

Sendoh didn't know how to answer. He shrugged his shoulders carelessly and he flashed the perplexed buy a bright SendohTM smile to end the discussion. It didn't work in Hikoichi at all and he wanted to ask more questions, being the nosy git that he was. However, he chose to remain silent for he somehow knew that he couldn't help his senior out of whatever trouble the latter was in. 

TBC

**A/N: To all of you readers: We're just letting Hiroaki borrow our precious Sendoh in this fic. He loves us and no one else! **

**Castor: Sendoh's mine, you idiot!**

**Pollux: NO WAY! Take that back you insufferable git!**

Castor and Pollux start brawling and Akin Sijin smiles wickedly as she runs off to Sendoh and grabs him by the arm

**Sendoh: Yare yare…**

(Have you noticed anything with the chapter title? ^_^)


	2. The Call

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

Part 2: The Call

Sendoh and Hikoichi had finished eating. Hikoichi was so amazed by his senior's appetite. Hikoichi was so full although they ate the same amount of food. 

"Wow, I didn't know you were *that* hungry, anyway the food was simply superb." Hikoichi said as they walked out of the place. Sendoh just smiled. Just then, a car pulled over in front of them. A beautiful woman stepped out of the driver's seat and waved at them. It was none other than Hikoichi's older sister, Yayoi Aida. Because of her diligence in her work, she was given a car to make her job much easier. Hikoichi wasn't happy about this and muttered something under his breath.

"Hello." Yayoi greeted them.

"What are you doing here?" Hikoichi asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing, just checking you out. And we meet again, Sendoh." She said as she smiled at him and shook his hand. Sendoh smiled and nodded.

"Well, we have just finished eating and we're going home now," said Hikoichi.

"That's perfect, I think I can give you two a ride." She said.

Before Hikoichi could say 'fine', Sendoh spoke.

          "I think I need a walk by myself, I'll see you next practice." He told Hikoichi.

          "But, Sendoh-sempai, your house is seven blocks away." Said Hikoichi.

          "No, really, thanks, I need to be…alone."

          "Well, alright, be careful then." 

          "Yeah, bye."

Sendoh walked the lonely streets alone. His head was wandering off somewhere; he couldn't stop bothering about Koshino. He looked at his watch. It was 9 in the evening. This shook him off his wandering, "It's not yet late, I'll call him…" he thought.

He rushed home. When he arrived, he went straight to his bedroom; he didn't even greet his mom and dad. He reached for the phone and dialed Koshino's number as he nervously paced the floor. Someone answered the phone. Sendoh knew it was him, his voice was tired and rough.

          "Hello, it's me, Akira." 

          "I know, why did you call? Any idea what time it is?"

          "It's 9, but we have to talk."

          "About what? The practice? The try-out? You see I'm trying to catch up…"

          "No, we need to talk about _us."_

          "…"

          "Hiro-chan, are you still there?"

          "Yes, I can hear you. Listen, whatever it is you want to say it can wait tomorrow. You know I need to rest. I'm really tired, ok?"

          "Well…ok, rest and sleep well but you'll see me after lunch tomorrow, promise?"

          "Fine, goodnight." Koshino was about to hang up when Sendoh spoke,

          "Goodnight and I…I…" he said nervously.

          "I know." And he hung up.

TBC

**A/N: **Uh they broke up! Poor Aki-chan! We'll continue this… if we get enough reviews… ^_^ 


	3. Light and Shade

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

Part 3: Light and Shade

After lunch, Sendoh went straight to Koshino's house. The captain's heart leaped to see the sub-captain waiting outside his house. For a few minutes, Sendoh stood watching him not realizing that the boy was waiting. How he loved his semi-long black hair, his young fair face, his evenly smooth skin, his point guard built body, his- 

"You're late," said a cold voice. It was Koshino. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry you see I must've over slept, and I forgot to tell you I planned to meet you here, see, my alarm clock didn't ring and-"

"You have no alarm clock, I've been in your room."

"Right, I mean my mom didn't wake me up-"

"Your mom goes to work at 7, she's not supposed to wake you up that early."

"Hey, easy, why so cold? I overslept, ok, I didn't mean to be this late. I'm sorry."

"Alright. Do you want to come in?"

"No, thanks. I think we should take a walk."

"OK. To where?"

"To the park, there's no better place."

So they walked their way together. Sendoh was looking at Koshino with a faint smile on his face. Koshino noticed this and said,

          "What? Is there something on my face?"

Sendoh's smile faded.

          "Nothing." He said.

As they walked, Sendoh longed to hold Koshino's hand but thought better of it, he knew something was wrong and he couldn't just hit it like that. When they reached the park they found a bench to sit on. Sendoh sat first and motioned at Koshino to do so. He sat on the far end of the bench, Sendoh's lips curled almost into a frown.

Sendoh spoke first,

          "Listen, I know something has been bothering you lately, but please don't get it on the way of our relationship. If you tell me what's wrong then I'll be more than glad to do what I can. What is it?"

          "Don't act as though you don't know, Akira, if something's getting on the way of our relationship, it's because _you put it there. Now, what do you have to say?"_

Sendoh's brows raised in confusion.

          "How would I know what to say when I really don't know what I did to offend you?"

          "Stop pretending, will you? If there's one thing that we really need to talk about right now, it should be about _breaking up."_

Sendoh sat frozen, he looked at Koshino who looked back and shook his head. Sendoh spoke,

          "Tell me what I've done wrong and I'll fix it for you…you know I can't…"

Koshino swallowed his breath before he spoke,

          "Look, Akira, I know I can't blame you for being chased by girls all over town and be flirted with nor do I want to blame you for flirting back. Now let us be practical and live our lives as we should. You know very well that we can't stay like this for long, we have to break up. Someday I'll find the right girl and so will you."

Sendoh was so shocked, he never expected that things would go this wrong. He had never felt so crushed, hurt, mutilated and down before. His throat was too tight but he spoke,

          "I may not have always understood you but you know they mean nothing to me, I told you that before. Look at me now and tell me what is it that you really want but this." 

           "Things get hard, Akira. We do not know how much we could bear. For all I know this shouldn't be."

At this, Sendoh felt that he was struck by lightning. What more should he say?

          "I've come here to ease myself for the damage you've given me. I swore before Ikegami and Uozomi that I will make the team the best way I can, you can turn your back on that promise, you're not the captain. But I am, so I've come here regardless of the pain I am to face to tell you that you're free to do whatever that pleases you. And I hope you'll be satisfied."

          "And so you give me permission to leave as I am to ask you, that's why I agreed to talk to you. Before you let everything I've said sink in your head and before we part, I want you to know that I'd be leaving Ryonan High and entering Shohoku High. On Friday I'll be bringing this news to the whole team thus I will never have practice with you again."

Sendoh smiled bitterly, it showed all the pain he bore.

          "Then I grant you leave," said the captain.

          "Don't wear that scornful smile you wear now. If only you know how much I hate to tell you this…" said Koshino.

Sendoh shook his head and said,

          "Your own eyes have betrayed you. All they tell me is your urgent need to depart from me, who has won your heart by now? Since you avoided me?"

          "Akira, could I change the past when my father knew of this? I hid his knowledge from you, yet I continued to walk with you in the midst of uncertainty, not knowing the price I was to pay and the lesson I was to learn. If I hadn't avoided you for long I would be thousand miles away from you and that would've killed both of us slowly." Koshino said all this wearily.

Sendoh still didn't know what to say. He was trembling. He held Koshino's hand as tears filled his eyes. 

          "What are you going to do?" Sendoh asked.

          "I don't know, this may be a new beginning but I won't forget…and you?"

          "I'd still be captain." He had never been this hurt all his life.

Tears streamed down Koshino's cheeks.

          "Uekusa should be sub-captain after me, he had worked hard for it. He deserves it."

And so the two parted tearfully as the evening closed upon them.

**A/N: **So sad… and what a wicked cliffhanger! Again we will upload more often IF… we get enough reviews. That's all, Ja!

(Have you noticed anything about the Chapter Titles? If you did, kudos to you!) ****


	4. Summer Breeze

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

Part 4: Summer Breeze

The summer games hadn't started when Koshino submitted his entrance form to Shohoku. He was admitted right away after the interview and he'd be in section 5. He asked the principal if he could join the basketball club for he wanted to play for the summer games.

          "You will have to submit another form regarding your experience and health. You also have to consult Mr. Anzai."

          "Alright. Can I have his address or at least his number?"

The principal gave him the number and dismissed him.

He was about to go home when he noticed that the Basketball Gym's doors were open. He could here the sound of a bouncing ball. He walked a bit faster, and he was too excited to see the practice game. He stood by the door and was amazed by how hard these boys were practicing. He was amazed for the most part by Anzai-sensei because he didn't have to shout at his boys to motivate them unlike someone he knew… He saw Mr. Anzai and went to his direction but before he could take his fifth step, Hanamichi Sakuragi called out to him,

          "Hey, who gave you permission to step into Shohoku's polished gym? What are you, a reckless spy?!" (This scene brings about memories, ne? Ryonan practice game with Shohoku?)

Everyone turned to look at him, even Rukawa. Koshino didn't know what to say but he answered,

          "I'm Hiroaki Koshino and I-" he was cut short by Sakuragi who said,

          "We're not stupid you know, we know who you are and we know you're from Ryonan, are you spying on us?"

          "No, I'm not spying and…" Koshino paused, "…I am now a student of Shohoku High. I'd like to have a word with Mr. Anzai." He went straight to Mr. Anzai.

The Shohoku team was surprised by the news. Hisashi Mitsui and Ryota Miyagi, the new team captain (Since Akagi and Kogure wouldn't play in the summer games because they already graduated. Mitsui chose to hang around for as long as he still can.), eyed him suspiciously, Sakuragi, however, followed him, an evil grin curling in the corners of his lips.

          "Mr. Anzai, I'm Hiroaki Koshino, I'd like to play for the team, here's my admission form, and here are some papers concerning my health and experience." Koshino handed out the papers to Mr. Anzai. He read it right away.

          "Well you seem to have a good record…" Said the coach.

Sakuragi was still looking like a devil; he didn't seem to believe Koshino.

          "Well, well, well, Mr. Piece of cake, if you really are admitted to this school-" Sakuragi was cut short by Ayako who had just hit him with a paper fan.

          "Excuse us Mr. Anzai, Koshino-san." She told them as she pulled Sakuragi by the ears. Koshino was looking at her intently. Mr. Anzai turned to Koshino and said,

          "We are actually holding a try-out tomorrow, if you want you can ask Ayako there, our manager, to sign you up."

          "OK. Thank you, sir." He said and went to Ayako.

Ryota was now glaring at him, he didn't notice that Yasuda had thrown the ball at him, he was hit in the face, hard. Koshino didn't mind this.

          "Hi, er, Ayako, right?" Koshino said, blushing furiously.

          "Hi there, I suppose you'd like to join the team," she said.

          "Er, yes, I was wondering if you could sign me up for the try-out tomorrow."

          "No problem, just be here at 10 in the morning and be ready with your basketball stuff, ok?"

          "Sure. See you tomorrow then." He said, blushing.

He went home looking as though he had just won the lottery. Ayako's words were ringing in his head over and over again. When he reached home, he went straight to his bedroom after eating. At night, he lied awake thinking of Ayako. 

"Beautiful, just beautiful." He thought.

**A/N: **Hiro-chan is sad no more but what about Aki-chan? Poor Aki-chan… Reviews please!


	5. Head Over Heels

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

PART 5: Head over Heels

**A/N: The three characters you will encounter are extracted from Takehiko Inoue's (Maker of SD) work, One on One, a basketball videogame. We actually don't know their last names so we invented them. Check out the game so you can see for yourselves how much they fit as SD characters.**

Ayako's face was smiling at him, "How about dinner tomorrow at 8?" she asked. Her hair wasn't tied, and she was wearing a basketball jersey. When he looked at it, Ryonan no. 6 was printed on it. She was wearing _his basketball jersey and he couldn't help smiling. Before he could say yes, the school bell rang…he was dreaming. When he woke up, his alarm clock was making hell. It was already nine thirty in the morning leaving him thirty minutes to prepare._

          "Fuck! What am I thinking, I'm late for practice, rather try-out!"

He went downstairs with one step. He brushed his teeth and went straight to the bathroom. His parents looked at each other.

          "What is he up to?"

Koshino was singing to himself loudly in his bath, "Kimi ga suki dato sakebitai, ashitawo kaete miyo koorutsuiteku toki wo buuchikowa shitai…"

          "What the hell is he doing?" His brother asked. "Has he found a new girlfriend?"

          "Yes, I mean, I'm going to." Koshino had just finished and went back to his room to change and grabbed his bag and out of the house. He went to their garage and hopped on his bike without eating breakfast. He hit the road really fast.

When he reached Shohoku, he was exactly on time. He ran to the gym and saw Ayako. It was the first time he saw her wearing a pair of really short shorts and a plain white shirt. She called out to him,

          "Koshino, come on here and play basketball!" She was smiling.

His knees felt very weak as he returned the smile. There were fourteen guys who signed up. Ayako asked them to form a line and introduce themselves. Koshino went first and introduced himself proudly as Ayako watched.

          "I'm Hiroaki Koshino, 178 cm, 145 lbs, I usually handle point guard position."

After the introduction, they were asked to change in their basketball clothes. When they came back, Ayako asked them to listen to her.

          "OK, I know all of you here are experienced but because of limited resources only four of you will be selected to join the team. For those who will be chosen you can or you may not play for the summer games. OK, any questions?" She asked. 

"Alright let's get it on." 

They were divided into two groups and were asked to play against each other. The game was to last for 30 minutes. Koshino showed off all through the game that his team ended the second half taking a twenty one-point lead. Ryota was not so happy about this, he was scowling but Ayako was cheering both teams up. 

Handsome Mitsui and redhead Sakuragi were watching with great enthusiasm, they laughed at those who made mistakes and whistled to those who were doing well. They were renewed punks after all. Ayako didn't like this. Rukawa however, was snoring in the corner, his head on his shoulder.

The game ended with Koshino's team leading by fourteen points. He got 30.

Ayako, Miyagi, Mitsui and Yasuda asked them to wait for awhile and hear the results later. The four of them sat in the corner and decided. Miyagi started to argue with the other three,

          "He was keeping the ball to himself, anyone who handles it that long can score even more."

          "Oh come on Miyagi, he had 11 assists that's not what you call a ball-hugger, you call it triple-double!" Mitsui said angrily, his beautiful eyes narrowing.

          "Well he only passed the ball when every opponent was screening him."

          "That only happened because his teammates kept passing the ball to him and besides he has the best record among them," said Yasuda politely.

          "Point guards don't get inside the paint every time, you know."

          "Unless all his teammates are screened outside…" said Ayako, this shut Miyagi up. She continued,

          "Honestly, Ryota, what do you want? A teammate or another cheerleader? We need him." 

Miyagi didn't know how to answer but said, "OK, if you say so, but I have appointed Yasu as sub-captain." Yasuda couldn't help smiling.

They stood up and faced the aspiring players.

          "Ok, we have just come up with the list, as we've mentioned, four of you will be chosen." Ayako announced as she looked at them one by one, at least five of them blushed, excluding Koshino.

          "We have chosen, Kirin Ikeda of first year class 5." A tan-haired boy with a wide mouth stepped forward. He grinned.

          "Second, we choose Ron Taichiko of third year class 7." A tall guy with long hair joined Kirin. He just nodded coolly and gave Mitsui a five. Sakuragi looked at them, "This one kinda reminds me of you before you came back to the team." He told Mitsui.

          "Third, we choose Luka Tenshi from second year class 1." An angel-looking guy with green hair, he kissed his necklace with a cross hanging on it. 

          "And last but certainly not the least, Hiroaki Koshino of third year class 5." He didn't look surprised at all. Mitsui winked at him as Sakuragi whistled.

          "Congratulations to you and to the others, better luck next year." Yasuda told them all.

They had practice that afternoon. Mitsui and Sakuragi gave their new teammates a tour,

          "You, pretty boy Ikeda, since you are the only freshman here, you have to come early every practice and clean up, hahaha, just joking you're not alone, the sophomores will help you," Sakuragi told Kirin, they seem to be getting along very well. They looked like each other very much, only a slight difference: Hair color.

          "No problem with me." The freshman answered.

Mitsui and Ron turned out to be, well, cousins. They were walking by themselves while laughing loudly, "Don't worry, you don't have to clean, the sophies and freshmen will handle it." Mitsui told him. Luka and Koshino were still quiet. Sakuragi turned to Luka and said, "Are you foreign? I mean you look like an, er, I mean you look OK." Luka just smiled at him. Sakuragi then turned to Koshino and said, 

"Ey, Kosh, how's my rival, your ace, Sendoh?"

Koshino twitched at the mention of the name and said,

          "He's fine, he's the new captain, can I excuse myself for awhile, I mean I've been here yesterday and toured myself…"

          "OK, suit yourself." Said Sakuragi.

Koshino went back to the gym, which was now empty except for Mr. Anzai and Ayako. Koshino's heart was beating fast. He watched as Mr. Anzai left Ayako alone. His heart beat even faster.

Nervously he entered the gym, Ayako noticed him,

          "Hello." She said smiling at him.

          "Er, hi, what's that?" He pointed at the papers Ayako was holding. 

          "These are your records, want to check them out and see if there's something wrong with them, you know, infos and spellings."

          "Yeah let's see…" Koshino stood close beside her as they both scanned the papers. Why did he have to blush right now? He wasn't really reading the papers. After reading, Ayako tapped him on the shoulder and said,

          "Boy, you really are good." She said as she fixed her things.

          "Er, thanks, going home already?" he asked

          "Yeah, I think."

          "Want me to walk you home?" he asked before he could stop himself.

          "No, it's ok, I have to run some errands for Mr. Anzai and it will take long."

          "Well, OK, I'll see you then."

          "See you."

**A/N: **Did you like Hiro-chan's song? ^_^ It ain't ours too. 


	6. Precious Declaration

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

Sendoh drool and we also don't own the songs featured in this fic. And reminder, if we get enough reviews, we'll post the next chapters sooner

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

PART 6: Precious Declaration

He watched her as she walked out of the gym. He hopped on his bike and hit the road while singing, "Anata dake mitsumeteru deatta hikara imo demo zutto Anata sae soba ni ireba hoka nannimo iranai…" he breathed in because the next part was too high for his voice but he continued, "Yume no HIGH TENSIOOOON! OooooohAAAAARGH!!!" his bike swerved to some garbage cans on the side of the road and resulted with him crashing to them head first. He looked around; he was lucky nobody saw him. 

He reached home. Before he could put his bag down, the phone rang,

"Hello" he answered

"Hello Koshino-sempai, this is Hikoichi."

"Uh, it's you, Hikoichi."

"So, we've heard…you've transferred to Shohoku."

"Ah, yeah…it was dad's decision, he thinks it'd be better this way."

"Yeah, well I guess you won't join our practice again, I mean, you don't have to, now that…"

"That's right, I was to go there yesterday to say goodbye to you guys but I had to go to Shohoku for the interview and stuff."

"It's Ok, Sendoh told us everything."

"So, er, how's it going? I bet he appointed Uekusa as sub-captain."

"Oh, yeah, we're doing fine. Sendoh did appoint him. He told us it was your choice."

"Yeah…"

"I have to go, I'm late for practice. Nice hearing you again, Koshino-sempai."

"Alright, same here, bye."

They hung up. Before he could make another move, the doorbell rang. "Hang on" he said. When he opened the door he was standing before his ex. It was Sendoh.

          "Ah, Akira, what are you doing here?" he asked politely.

          "You, er, forgot to, er, gather your stuff in the locker room, so I, er did it for you." Sendoh answered, he was sweating. Koshino didn't know what to say at the moment but said,

          "Yeah, I was to pick them up yesterday but I had to attend to something and, er, you really didn't have to. But thanks anyway, want to come in?"

          "Er, no, I just, er, I ma go now, I, er, we have a practice." He said as he turned to go.

          "OK, I'll see you around, I guess." He turned but Sendoh called back,

          "Er, Hiro-chan, I, er, I mean would you, er, I…I…" (Sendoh had a bad case of a stutter when he was a kid…)

          "I know, I'll see you, maybe some time."

          "Ah, OK. Bye."

After that, Koshino went to his room, his heart was beating really fast but he didn't know why. Perhaps because of Sendoh or maybe Ayako. He didn't mind, 

_Tomorrow I'll see her again… he thought._

Next morning he woke up quite early. He prepared himself for the practice and off he went again, singing on his bike. When he reached Shohoku High, the sophomores and Kirin were cleaning the gym. Sakuragi called out to him.

          "Ey, Kosh! Why so early? Do you wanna give us a hand or are you trying to impress everyone, eh?"

          "No, I just woke up quite early today. Where's Ayako-san, I mean everyone?"

Sakuragi studied him for a while, his lips curling into a sneer.

          "Ayako will probably arrive before the seniors and Mitchy. And she, well I guess, will be wearing something, er, sexy-I mean-daring, you know it's summer." Sakuragi said. Koshino blushed. Rukawa slightly shook his head and turned to Sakuragi, 

          "Would you mind helping here or do you want her to hit us with her paper fan when she sees the floor?" he said as he mopped the floor.

          "Yes, I do mind cleaning. And if you excuse us, we're talking here." Sakuragi said rudely. But Koshino spoke,

          "I'll help, it's not a lot of work and I've done this before and-" he was cut short when Sakuragi pulled him by the sleeve. Rukawa sighed and muttered something under his breath, which sounded very much like Do-ahou. Sakuragi took Koshino outside the gym.

          "What are you doing and why did you take me here?" Koshino asked.

          "Nothing, I was just wondering if you care for a little walk. Ah, there's Ayako-chan!" Sakuragi pointed to the gate.

          "Where, where is she?" Koshino asked excitedly.

          "Oh, I thought I saw her, it was just a _car. Hehehe."_

Koshino snorted but Sakuragi went on,

          "You're in-love with Ayako-san. Hmm, you're in great trouble."

He told Koshino with a warning look.

          "What the hell are you talking about? We had just met and-"

          "Ryochin's going to kill you! I saw you yesterday, you were looking at her, no point denying."

          "What?! Of course I'd look at her, what d'you want me to do? Speak to her with my back turned on her?"

          "I know when a person's in-love, Kosh, you were scarlet like an apple. And guess what? Everybody thinks so even slow Rukawa. Ryochin's gonna kill you when he arrives."

          "What am I goin' to do? Sakuragi-kun, help…if Miyagi finds out, I mean, if she finds out."

          "Well if Miyagi finds out, he'll kill you right away, that I'm more than sure but I dunno about Ayako, I think she'll turn you down."

          "What!? Turn me down? It's more than I can bear!"

Sakuragi broke into a very wide evil grin.

          "Relax, it was a joke, only I, the genius knows about your secret. And I'm the only one who can help you here, I'm so experienced with this you see."

Koshino wanted to punch the lights out of him but he just rolled his eyes. He was about to say something when Sakuragi spoke,

          "Now, Kosh, tell me, how much do you like Ayako?" he asked as the corners of his lips reached his ears.

          "OK, I love the girl." Koshino said lightly.

          "What? I can't hear you." He scrunched his face in innocence and tried to get his ear next to Koshino's face.

          "I said, I'm in love with the girl!" He said before he could stop himself. Sakuragi's smile faded and he moved closer to Koshino. He continued,

          "I can't help it, Sakuragi, I see her face everywhere, and she was mine but it was just a dream! You see, when I entered here I was having second thoughts if I should join the team but when I saw her, she was beautiful and she likes basketball. And I thought, why can't she be mine, I mean there's no reason she couldn't like me, we both like basketball." 

          "Ryochin also likes basketball—and Ayako. That makes you even. But they've known each other since first year. Ryochin liked her when he first saw her just like you. And Ayako, she has always been supportive to Ryochin, yes, you do stand a chance, but just a little." Sakuragi told him seriously.

          "I don't care," he said determinedly. 

"Uh-oh, I'm in a fix," the redhead muttered when he remembered something.

"Why?" 

"You're a nice guy and all but-"

"But what?" Koshino asked panicking slightly.

"You see, Ryochin's my friend too…" he said sounding worried and before Koshino could ask anything more, Sakuragi pointed to the walkway that led to the gym.

"Oh no, Ryochin's here." 

TBC


	7. Foolish Heart

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

Sendoh drool and we also don't own the songs featured in this fic. And reminder, if we get enough reviews, we'll post the next chapters sooner

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

**PART 7: FOOLISH HEART**

****

          "WHY ARE YOU ALL LOUNGING AROUND?!" Ryota yelled at his teammates as he entered the gym. "YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING 50 LAPS!" everyone looked at him pleadingly.

          "Just kidding," he grinned. "Ten will do." Everyone sighed in relief. Ryota was a much nicer captain than Akagi because he was not as obsessed about the Nationals as the former governor. The seniors arrived with Mitsui, one arm slung over his cousin's shoulders.

          "Ohayou minna-san!" Ayako greeted the boys. Most of the newcomers blushed and Ryota suddenly straightened up.

          "Ohayou Aya-chan!" Ryota greeted, grinning stupidly and Ayako smiled at him sweetly, knowing its effect on Ryota. This always worked and gave the captain-guard more spirit. Koshino felt his insides twist. 

          "OK, everyone ten laps!" he instructed his teammates.

          "Including me?" Mitsui asked pointing to himself. Ryota smiled evilly and said.

          "Omake who faints easily should have one, I suppose." 

          "Oh, is that it?" Mitsui was insulted and found a way to retaliate. "Captain Ryochin, if you don't my saying," he smiled innocently, "We should do some stretching first for those who are…" pause for effect. "…too short." 

Everyone sweatdropped but Ron and Mitsui were laughing hysterically. Miyagi practically blew up.

          "YOU DARE INSULT ME YOU LAME-ASS PUNK!!!" he shouted at Mitsui and was about to beat Mitsui into a bloody pulp when he was held back by four hands. The first pair owned by the angel looking second year and the other owned by Yasuda.

          "Yamette, captain," Sakuragi said, smiling smugly. "I think you should set a good example for Kirin here." He gestured towards Kirin. He had a special liking (not yaoi, you hentais!) for the freshman because of the closeness of their features.

          "On with the practice, everyone!" Ayako felt that she should do the first move since they weren't going anywhere with Ryota's temper and Mitsui's attitude.

          _She's so cool… Koshino couldn't help but notice that Ayako was in total control of the situation. __She didn't even use her paper fan! _

          His thoughts drifted elsewhere and it took a while before he noticed that someone was waving something at his face.

          _Aya-chan… Music was playing in the background and someone seemed to be calling to him from a faraway place._

_          Hiroaki-kun…_

_          Aya-chan…_

_          Hiroaki-kun…_

_          Aya-chan…_

_          "HIROAKI!" he suddenly snapped from his reverie when he saw Ayako._

          "Let's practice," she said

          "Yeah, right on."

Ayako divided them into two teams; the first team was composed of Miyagi, Kakuta, Sakuragi, Rukawa and Yasuda. The second team was composed of Kirin the Young, Luka the Angel, Ron the Punk, Hisashi the Fair and Hiroaki the Dreamer. 

Sakuragi was complaining, "But Ayako-chan I don't want to play with Kitsune," he pointed at Rukawa who snorted, "Why don't you let me play for the other team, you see Kirin-chan and I have practiced some cool moves."

Ryota tapped his shoulder and said, "But this is a way of showing Kirin how good you are, right? Ok, I'll guard Koshino, Rukawa will guard Luka, Kuwata, you guard Ron, Yasuda, you watch Kirin and Hanamichi, you guard him." he pointed at Mitsui who rolled his eyes.

The game started and Miyagi's team got the ball first. He got the first score by eluding Koshino. 

"Darn." Koshino muttered. Miyagi flashed a smile. It was hard to see who would win. Mitsui kept on making incredible passes to Ron, which resulted to several amazing plays such as ally-oop. Half of the points was made by Ron and 2/3 of the assists was contributed by Mitsui. But this didn't stop Rukawa and Sakuragi to show off, all their shots were dunks and Sakuragi was grabbing almost all the rebounds. 

During a time out Rukawa insisted that he'd take care of Ron and Sakuragi insisted he'd take care of Kirin as he was always eluded and screened by Mitsui. Ryota simply said no which resulted to Sakuragi grumbling about certain nasty chibi-people. 

During the second half, Luka decided he should make a show too, he was moving so gracefully and so fast that everyone just watched open-mouthed, save Rukawa who was in deep concentration. But Luka was unpredictable; he had bounced the ball really hard against the floor and made a single ally-oop. Rukawa's eyes were flaring. 

Sakuragi cheered for Luka, "Take that, Kitsune!" while Ron and Mitsui were hitting Luka on the back and head as a sign of appreciation, "Do you have wings under your shirt!?" they asked, he just smiled. 

However, Miyagi's team won, he wouldn't let the new comers put him down, he scored 35 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks. Ayako gave him a high five and smiled at him. 

Koshino saw it, "Foolish of me…" he thought. "He's better, he's the captain…he's ten steps ahead of me."

TBC


	8. Selling the Drama

**PART 8:  Selling the Drama  **

          So lonesome Koshino went home, humming to himself, " And to love a God, and to fear the flame, and to burn a love that has a name…" It was a lonely song of a broken heart. He stretched himself on the sofa and slept the whole night. It was already 10 in the morning when his mom shook him awake.

          "We will be leaving you and your brother for a while. I've got to get my job interview, ok? Be a good boy and if there's anything you need call me alright?"

          "Ok, bye mom."

They had no practice that day so he decided he should go downtown and play ball. But then he realized that he couldn't keep the court by himself, a tall, redhead someone got there first. Hanamichi Sakuragi was waving at him.

"Ei, life gets boring at home? One on one?"

"Er, sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah, scared?" said Hanamichi but he noticed that his teammate was looking down and weary so he continued,

"Oh, I know. You're depressed because Ryota made a shit out of you, I mean, she was impressed by him." 

"Sakuragi, d'you think she likes him?"

"I don't know, I mean Ayako's secretive…" a black top-down two-seater car pulled over bearing two tall guys. One with a long hair stepped out of the driver's seat and the other from the passenger's seat. Sakuragi didn't seem notice them so he continued, "You see, if she likes you too, you'll probably notice it by the way she treats you. And she probably knows by now that you like her and I understand, you see, Ayako's the type of girl who-"

Koshino was trying to tell him to shut up but it was too late, the two guys, none other than Ron and Mitsui seemed to have heard everything. They went to them. Finally, Sakuragi became aware of their presence and stuttered, 

          "Hiya guys, we were just talkin about-"

          "Ayako." The two said together.

Koshino covered his face with both hands in despair. Ron tapped his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we're not gonna tell anyone and we can help, boy aren't we good at this, Hisashi?"

          "Right you are, cousin."

Sakuragi looked at them dubiously and said, "You know nothing about girls."

          "These two handsome lads don't know anything about girls?" Mitsui said referring to himself and Ron, who said, "We know they don't usually like sports and-"

          "But Ayako does," said a voice from behind and they all froze except Sakuragi who said,

          "Yeah and she's crazy about basketball and…" he paused and turned around, recognizing the voice. "Ah Kirin-chan, you're late! You almost missed the tensai's lessons." 

          Kirin smiled sheepishly and asked.

          "So what about Ayako-sempai?"  

          "Nothing, nothing in particular…" Koshino denied fervently but Sakuragi didn't get the message.

          "We were just talking about how well Kosh here likes Ayako, hehehehe!" Before Sakuragi could blurt out any more SECRETS, Ron covered his mouth since he was the only one who can take on Sakuragi, size-wise.

          "Mmph… mmmph…" he struggled to get out of Ron's strong grasp but was unsuccessful.

          "Why don't we just have a game?" Mitsui asked but Kirin was not too eager to let go of the subject. He turned to Koshino.

          "So you like Ayako-sempai…" it was more of a statement than a question and Koshino nodded and then asked irritably.

          "OK, you all know so can we just get on with it?" 

          "Yeah, thanks to genius here!" Mitsui was referring to Sakuragi who had just out-wrestled the larger Ron and was laughing stupidly.

          "Sorry, Kosh, I didn't mean to let everything slip, but Kirin-chan, you're not gonna tell, would you?" Sakuragi asked.

          "Of course I won't." he answered and Hanamichi ruffled his tan hair.

          "That's settled," Mitsui declared, "I'll be the referee then." The game started. Koshino and Ron were paired up and Kirin and Sakuragi were paired up, due to Sakuragi's insistent demands. He really liked the freshman especially his appearance. 

          They all played impressively but in the end only one shall prevail.

          The game finished and Koshino and Ron won by three points. Sakuragi was grumbling about Mitsui being a lousy coach. 

Monday at the Shohoku gym…

Rukawa, Kirin and Luka arrived earlier than usual and they were all mopping the gym floors. Kirin was bothered by the silence and he tried to start a conversation with Luka because he looked more approachable than Rukawa who was half-asleep while mopping.

"So… uhm… Luka-sempai," Kirin began, "Why'd you transfer to Shohoku?"

"We moved from Hokkaido to Kanagawa this year," he answered.

"Sou da ne," he was thinking of another question. "So how do you like it here so far?" he sucked at making conversations.

"It's okay I guess," he said and flashed him an angelic smile. "Besides, I like the weather here better. It's really cold up in Hokkaido." 

"Oh…" he really sucked at nosing around people's lives but he continued. "How about Shohoku, do you like it so far?"

"I like the people so far," this earned him a sleepy look from Rukawa who was overhearing their chat. "Teammates play great and they make you feel so welcome. The coach is kind and very motivating and the manager looks nice." Luka blushed slightly. Kirin's eyes widened in surprise and before he knew it, he was saying things he shouldn't have. (He's been hanging around with Sakuragi too much.)

"Oh… Ayako-sempai. Yeah, she's pretty and nice but Captain Miyagi likes her too and so does Koshino-sempai. He's crazy about her you know…" 

It was Luka's turn to be surprised and he smiled shyly and when Kirin noticed his reaction, his hand flew to his mouth. Rukawa suddenly turned to them and was looking at Kirin with his eyebrows raised.

"Uh-oh…" Kirin looked at his two teammates worriedly, "You wouldn't tell, would you?" The two nodded and went back to mopping with Kirin looking flushed.

TBC

**A/N: **Reviews please or we'll upload the chapter next week! evil grin Also, FYI, as we're working with our sister, Akin Sijin, you might want to check out her SD story which we've currently collaborated. It's a Ru-Hana shounen-ai attempt with all the sugar coatings of the world. ^_^ Have you noticed anything odd about the titles of the chapters?


	9. Just Got Lucky

**Part 9: Just Got Lucky**

****

          Almost everyone had arrived when the sophomores and Kirin finished cleaning. When Yasuda arrived he asked everyone to listen,

          "OK, Captain will be late for practice today because he said he had to help his dad clean their garage. He gave me a list of what we should do today, I guess I'll be in charge."

          Ayako nodded to him and asked,

          "So what should we do today?"

          "He said we're not gonna have a practice game till he arrives, that means we have to warm up first or practice shooting and passing."

With this, Sakuragi, Mitsui and Ron scowled. 

          "Why not have a practice game without him? I mean, why not let the assistant coach decide what kind of practice we should have today." Mitsui said

          "Yeah, I wanna have a game…but who's the assistant coach?" Sakuragi said as he gave Mitsui a confused look, everyone waited for Mitsui to answer.

          "Well, since I've been hanging around here for nothing, I asked coach if he'd take me as an assistant, and he, er, he said it was ok."

Everyone's eyebrows raised except Ron, who clapped and said,

          "I knew he'd appoint you." 

Ayako couldn't say anything,

          "Well, congratulations Mitsui-sempai, so have you any plan for today's practice?" she asked as she remembered the number of times when Mitsui had pestered Mr. Anzai to appoint him asst. coach.

          "I'd still propose a practice game but a different set of team members. Let's see, how about Luka, Toki, Koshino, Rukawa and-" Mitsui paused, "Yasu, would you like to join team A?"         he asked.

          "Sure."

          "And we have the following for team B, Kirin, Sakuragi, Ron, Ishii and Kakuta. I'll be the ref." Said Mitsui dismissively. But, "Don't you think we have a mismatch here, Mitsui-san? I mean Ron, Kirin and Sakuragi in one team, they're the best rebounders we have," said Ayako.

          "It's only right, you know, Rukawa and Luka are tall enough to match them."

          "Yes but any idea about their height difference? Luka's 186, Rukawa's 187, Sakuragi's 188 and Ron's 192 not to mention Kirin who's 173 but a good rebounder. I say let's split Ron and Sakuragi." 

Sakuragi placed his arms over Ron and Kirin's shoulders.

          "No." Mitsui said flatly.

          "But Mitsui-"

          "Luka and I can manage." Said a cold voice from behind. It was Rukawa.

          "For once I agree with Kitsune." Sakuragi declared.

          "I still think Ayako's right," Koshino decided to enter, "Trust me, I've seen that mismatch before in my former team and it ended up pretty bad, like, twenty point lead or so." 

          Sakuragi snorted and said, "Oh come on, Kosh. Luka's one heck of a rebounder here too and Rukawa…" he smiled evilly, "Well, I heard foxes can jump really high." Ayako whacked his head.

          "Come on, let's split the dream team! This is an unfair height advantage even if Luka and Rukawa are excellent point-getters!" Hiroaki insisted.

          "Do you really want a fair practice or do you just like her?" Rukawa gestured towards Ayako's direction because he was so pissed off with this person undermining his abilities that he accidentally said Koshino's secret.           

          Koshino could feel everyone's head turn towards him. He heard Rukawa mutter a faint Sumimasen and he knew that he didn't really mean it. Mitsui held his forehead with his free hand. Ron looked away. Kirin dropped the mineral water that he was holding and a shocked expression covered his face. Luka turned his head to Rukawa without any expression. Everyone else's mouth was gaping. Ayako was smiling shyly and everyone could tell by the telltale blush in her cheeks that she was utterly embarrassed.

          "How did you know?" Hanamichi asked Rukawa, puzzled, frightened, angry and concerned at the same time. 

          "I told him…" Kirin said meekly, "I didn't mean to! Sumimasen!!!" and he knelt in front of Koshino bowing apologetically several times.

          Koshino wanted to evaporate at that time. He felt all the blood in his body crawl up to his head but he refused to be embarrassed further and helped Kirin up to his feet.

He summoned all his courage and turned to Ayako, "This is not the way I wanted for you to find out," he paused, thinking of the right words to say at this incredibly awkward moment. "Well, it's true but I'm not asking anything of you right now except let's get on with the practice." Whew, he got out of that but he felt that his heart was going to pound its way out of his chest.

"All right, everyone," Mitsui started with a low voice, "Just as long as we keep this out of the captain's knowledge, we'll be okay. Anyone," he glared at Rukawa, Kirin and Sakuragi, "who blows this up will be suspended from the game and will be reduced to a bloody pulp by Ron here. Got it?" Sakuragi nodded fervently—not really afraid of Ron but Ryota and the suspension. Rukawa and Kirin nodded too and Mitsui flashed one of his fairest smiles. 

          Mitsui agreed that Ron and Sakuragi should split and so the practice game ended. Koshino did well since he wasn't guarding Ryota. 

          When Ryota arrived, the practice was over and almost everyone had left so all he was able to do was to say goodbye to Ayako.

          Koshino had not gone for home yet. He was waiting for Ayako outside the gate. When he saw her, he approached her and said hi.

          "Oh, hi Hiroaki." She said

          "Well, I'm sorry for what happened a while ago, er, I mean I didn't intend to let the whole team know…"

          "I know, it's okay. It wasn't your fault," she smiled shyly at him.

          "So you're okay with uhm… me… you and well that…" he stammered which didn't make much sense but Ayako understood.

          "Of course, it happens a lot," and she blushed again, realizing the bluntness of her statement.

"It does?" he raised an inquiring eyebrow.         

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so proud…" she chuckled lightly.

"It's not surprising, you're so…" he smiled at her.

"Hiroaki!" she stamped her foot in mock annoyance with his flirting but he was just so sweet. 

"Ah, right, I'll see you, bye." she said

"Er, right, I'll see you too. Bye."

Koshino couldn't help it; he was smiling while he biked home.

          "It's okay with her, that means I have a chance." He thought hopefully.

TBC

**A/N: **Reviews please or we'll upload the chapter next week! evil grin Also, FYI, as we're working with our sister, Akin Sijin, you might want to check out her SD story which we've currently collaborated. It's a Ru-Hana shounen-ai attempt with all the sugar coatings of the world. ^_^ Have you noticed anything odd about the titles of the chapters?


	10. As Long As It Matters

**PART 10: AS LONG AS IT MATTERS  
  
**

          On his way home, Hiroaki was singing again to himself, "Kowareru hodo aishitemo sanbun no ichi no tsutawaranai junjou na kanjou wa karamawari I LOVE YOU sae inaideiru MY HEART."

          At dinner he seemed to be in a very good mood.

          "You seem to be enjoying your basketball practice with your new schoolmates, eh, what's up?" Koshino's brother, Waki, asked.

          "Well, it's a good team, I'm so glad I entered the school." Hiroaki answered.

          "You seem to be in-love." Waki said

Hiroaki blushed and just smiled, his father looked at him intently and asked sternly,

          "So who is this person? Who seemed to be the reason why you're being so happy these days?"

Hiroaki didn't know how to answer, but he sure wanted to tell his dad that he was in-love with a girl. His mother, who didn't know anything about his love life, was looking excited.

          "Well, there is this, er, cute girl who happens to be our team manager and she's, er, so cool and I think I really like her."

His father's face lit up a bit,

          "Well seems like you want to get yourself a girlfriend, son? Good luck with this new love."

When they finished eating, Waki sat on the sofa and watched TV. Hiroaki sat beside him. 

"Are you sure this girl is not beyond your reach?" Waki asked

"I don't know. You see, I have a teammate and he's our captain and he likes her a lot too, probably as much as I like her. He's a good player no wonder he was chosen as the captain, I think I'm behind…"

"Well, you may be wrong. I don't know Hiroaki, I mean who knows, things don't usually go as they seem…"

"You probably are right, there's a little chance though. Hey, I think I should have a short walk, can you tell mom and dad?" Hiroaki said

"Alright then, be back before midnight or mom will cut me upside the head."

Hiroaki didn't know why he had to take a walk but he went. He went to the park and sat on a bench. He didn't notice the time went by. He was watching the stars when he was interrupted by a voice.

          "Hi." It was Sendoh.

Hiroaki didn't know what to do; this was the last thing he wanted to happen at the moment. But he didn't mind he greeted him back.

"Mind if I sit down?" Sendoh asked.

"No, not at all." They were silent for a while until Sendoh finally spoke,

"So I've heard, your brother told me, that you're in love with a girl."

Hiroaki didn't know what to say, he knew he needed to explain, so he said,

          "How fast news travel these days."

          "Yeah, I tried to call you a while ago, your brother told me you were going to the park and brought me the news."

          "Listen Akira, whatever was between you and me before, it's over, I've told you that."

          "I know and I haven't forgotten. And I don't blame you for you promised before that you'd be always honest to me."

          "Akira, you're making this hard for you as hard as it was to me, but I don't want you to feel this way, you know that. I don't want to see you hurting like this."

          "I've been wondering, does everything have to end like this, I mean do we have to throw everything away? I'm not asking anything of you right now but I hope what you're doing right now is good for you."

          Koshino felt the loneliness.

          "You're telling me all the bitterness that's inside you, and it's all because of me, but I want you to know, I'd still be your friend as I have always been and it hurts me so to hear that you think everything is over."

          "Tell me, do you look at me now the same way you did?" Sendoh asked.

          "I'm afraid I don't, but I care for you as much as I did before. Always have I cared for you," came the reply.

          "Then I want to tell you that always you are dearest to me, my friend."

          "Then I am glad to tell you as well that you have always been my best-friend."

          "As always."

          "You ease my mind, Akira, I knew you'd learn… I really have to go now, it's late. I guess we'll see each other later." Koshino said as he stood up, "See you later."

          "I'll see you then."

Sendoh watched Koshino until he disappeared into the dark street. 

TBC

**A/N: **Reviews please or we'll upload the chapter next week! evil grin Also, FYI, as we're working with our sister, Akin Sijin, you might want to check out her SD story which we've currently collaborated. It's a Ru-Hana shounen-ai attempt with all the sugar coatings of the world. ^_^ Have you noticed anything odd about the titles of the chapters?


	11. King of Wishful Thinking

Kanagawa Blues PART 11: KING OF WISHFUL THINKING

**Disclaimer: **Takehiko Inoue owns the SD boys and the One on One characters.We also don't own the songs featured in this story.

N/C: You will encounter another character in this chapter who is, again, extracted from One on one.

The team decided they'd have their practice in the afternoon, which prevented Koshino from being late for he woke up at 10. He went to Shohoku singing on his bike again, "Nanka shiawase chotto, shiawase kanjiru toki koso…"

When they had arrived, Ayako asked them to listen. She stood in front of them as Mitsui joined her.

"Ok, as you have heard, exhibition games will be held this summer and that's three weeks from now. These games are not actually, say, important; they're just a way of introducing new members of the teams." Ayako told them.

"But that doesn't mean we're not gonna take the games easily, big teams will join such as Ryonan, Kainan, Shoyo, Ryokufu and almost every team. Anyway, you may or you may not join if you wish to but boy, do we want to kick some ass," said Mitsui.

"Darn right, Hisashi, we're gonna show them how good these new members are!" Ron said as he winked at Mitsui.

"You all seem to be in good condition so I say we all play for the exhibition," said Yasuda.

"Even if you don't want to play, I will require you to, or else you'll have to cheer for the whole inter-high season." Miyagi said sternly. Everyone looked determined.

"Okay, that seemed to clear everything up, let's practice." Ayako suggested.

          "Right you are Ayachan, let's get it on with the basic skills, everyone!" Ryota said as Mitsui yelled, "TEAM UP, EVERYONE!"

          "What do you mean team up? We have to warm up first, and who are you to organize the practice?" Miyagi asked.

          "Well, say," Mitsui said as he wore his super killer smile, "What about me being appointed as assistant coach, eh?" 

Miyagi's left eyebrow raised, Mitsui's eyes sparked and he continued,

          "Well if you're still in doubt, why don't you ask Mr. Anzai?"

Before Miyagi could answer, a voice said,          "I hope you're not arguing, boys." It was Mr. Anzai.

Mitsui suddenly wrapped his left arm around Miyagi and said, "No, we're just discussing, er, the upcoming games, yeah, that's it."

Mr. Anzai asked them to practice shooting and passing. Just then, a girl with brown hair appeared at the door. Some of them knew that she was a Shohoku student from second year. They didn't mind her at first, they thought she just wanted to watch the practice. But she seemed to be looking for someone, so Ayako approached her, "Can I help you?"

          "Yes please, I'm looking for my brother Kirin."

          "Ah, OK" Ayako went to call Kirin. The girl was watching Miyagi very intently and she smiled as he made a successful shot. Kirin was already standing in front of her. He was waving his hand as if to call her attention.

          "Did you bring the drinks I ask of you?" he asked.

          "Ah, yeah, they're here." She said as she handed them to Kirin, her eyes still locked on Miyagi. Kirin looked around for Miyagi and turned back to his sister,

          "Tsk, tsk, tsk, why don't you come in so you can get a better view of him, eh? Or do you want me to introduce you?"

          "Don't be silly, Kirin, I have to go. If you need anything more, you just ask, ok?" She said as she left blushing. Kirin went back to practice.

          "Wow, that's so sweet of your girlfriend, bringing you drinks," said Ron who was preparing to launch for a dunk shot.

          "Yeah, why didn't you tell me you already have a girlfriend? Are you afraid that this genius will neglect you if he learns about it? She's cute, though, you see it's normal for kids like you-" Sakuragi said.

          "She's not my girlfriend, she's my sister. Can't you see the resemblance? Her name's Furin."

          "I see, well she looks like you alright, but she seemed to be interested in me though, I've noticed she was looking at me." Sakuragi said. Rukawa and Ron snorted but Kirin spoke.

          "I don't know, she fancies Miyagi-sempai, he's her favorite. She even wants to watch our practice but I think she's shy."

          "Ah, ok, but you know Ryochin really likes Ayako-san, right? You should've told her so she wouldn't be so, er, broken hearted if she finds out later." Sakuragi said as he noticed Koshino heard this. 

          "But it's just a crush, it's not such a big deal, she said." Kirin said.

Sakuragi was about to lecture Kirin again when Miyagi went to them and said kindly, "Hanamichi and Ikeda, coach didn't ask us to discuss, he asked us to practice, remember?"

          "You're not practicing too, I've noticed you were watching Ayako making a list, eh?" Sakuragi said as he sneered, Miyagi's expression changed and his cheeks turned red but Sakuragi spoke again.

          "Just joking, Ryochin. We have just finished talking and we're gonna practice now."

The practice ended at 4 in the afternoon. Koshino watched as everyone left, Miyagi said goodbye to Ayako. Koshino made sure that everyone had left except for Ayako. _Blushing should be made illegal, he thought furiously. He approached her._

          "Hi!" she said

          "Er, Ayako can I have a word?"

          "Sure." 

Koshino looked at her as he felt his heart burst out of nowhere. Why did he have to go red now? Ayako was there waiting looking puzzled. He couldn't ask her but he had to.

          "Wanggoouwimme?" the words came out sooner than he expected.

          "Sorry?"

          "I said d'you- d'you want to go out with me?"

          "Go out where?" her face was now as red as Sakuragi's hair.

          "You know dinner and stuff. Are- are you hungry, perhaps-"

          "Oh! OK, yeah, I'll just fix my stuff and-"

          "I'll just wait here," Koshino said as she turned away still very red in the face.

Koshino waited for her to finish as he stood watching. He looked stupid, he thought. He couldn't take his eyes of her but she doesn't seem to take notice of it.

They went to Tom's Diner and Koshino offered to pay the bill. They ate quietly until Koshino spoke.

"Er, have you, er, gone out with someone else? Er, you know, our captain for instance." 

"He had asked me out, several times and we went out about twice or thrice, but, er, we didn't actually date."

"Ah, ok. Do you think we can make it to nationals next season? I mean this is my last chance, last season we were, I mean Ryonan was eliminated by Shohoku."

"Well, Akagi-sempai, Kogure-sempai and Mitsui-sempai won't be playing anymore but we sure have found replacements, I mean you, Luka, Kirin and Ron are simply great. I'm glad you transferred to Shohoku. Why did you transfer anyway? You were already in your second year."

"Er, my dad wanted me to. He said the team practice was too much, you know," Koshino was smiling, "our coach, you've seen him, right? He, er, made us work ten times as much and that's simply unbearable," and they laughed. They talked about Shohoku, Ryonan and their new teammates. They also remembered last year's playoffs and what happened to the nationals, Koshino seemed to be interested in it until it was time to say goodbye. They seemed to have a great time, _this isn't so bad after all, he thought._

"Want me to walk you home?"

"No thanks, it's getting dark, maybe next time, I'll see you then."

"Ah, OK, Bye."

Koshino went back to Shohoku to pick up his bike. He rode home humming to himself again, "Itsu no mani ka hitomi ubawarate haji mata hanasanai yuruganai," he breathed in to obtain momentum and cried out loud, "CRAZY FOR YOU…"

TBC

**A/N:** What makes the chapters of this fic special? Give up? They're actually title of the songs that we have taken a liking to… but not all. We don't like BSB-no offense to their supporters. Also to those who want to read a REALLY freaky story, please check out and review Akin Sijin's RED. I bet it'll unnerve you once you get it. ^_^


	12. Space Between

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic. DOA2 is a property of Tecmo.

**A/N: **This is titled as such BECAUSE it will involve the whole Kanagawa later on in the story. Blues because it's a bit angsty on Kosh's side and blues is a genre of music… We tried to make all the titles of the chapters to be actual song titles but not just blues. We just figured things should be related to music a bit. Reviews please!

**CHAPTER 12: THE SPACE BETWEEN**

When Koshino reached home, he told his brother what had just happened. 

"So you think I can ask her to be, er, you know, in a relationship?" He asked him excitedly.

"Ah, you see, it's quite too early. I mean, it has nothing to do with being young and inexperienced but you've only asked her out once and the way you described her it seemed as though she's not that easy to, say, get."

"But come on, she already knows about how I feel and she said it's okay. Do you think it's a sign?"

"No it's not a sign. It already happened to me more than twice, you know, telling a girl I like her then receiving an _Ok for an answer and ending like dumped garbage in a sewer, mind. Don't hope too much, Ok? That's all I can give you for advice." Said Waki but the younger one was persistent and said,_

"Maybe because these girls didn't want to hurt you I mean, Ayako she's the kind of girl who speaks her mind, she's like that, I know it."

"Or maybe you hope so. Hiro-chan, d'you really think this girl isn't out of your reach? I mean, you've told me before that you knew the competition you're in."

Hiroaki paused for a while and hesitated but answered anyway, "You're the one who told me things don't always go the way they seem. I think I'm goin' to bed, 'night." He said sounding irritated.

He lied on his bed, absorbing everything his brother told him. They would have no practice the next day so he decided he'd go to the Discouri Arcade Heaven tomorrow.

He woke up at 8 and at 10 he headed to the Arcade center. He bought 18 tokens though he usually bought 3. He wanted to concentrate with the game but there were already premature noises coming from the entrance. 

After losing a token, he turned to the source of the noise and saw a tall red-haired guy none other than Sakuragi—again. He tried to look away but realized that it was too late because Hanamichi had already spotted him.

"OI HIROAKI-KUN!" he yelled over the crowd, eliciting some wincing at his loud bellow and waving frantically. Hiroaki covered his face with his hand.

_Boy, he sure could embarrass you even in this loud __crowd…_

To his dismay, Sakuragi came bounding towards his direction, a wide grin pasted all over his face.

"Ohayou Kosh!" he greeted him loudly and Hiroaki noticed his guntai tailing him. 

"Good morning to you too, Sakuragi-kun." He said politely and was about to turn and walk away when Sakuragi challenged him to a game of Dead or Alive 2. The piece just arrived this week and Sakuragi was amazed by the *aesthetics* especially when it came to the women's figures. 

Koshino almost smirked. He was good at this game because he found a character that well suited his playing style and the fact that he had a Dreamcast at his house. It was Ryu Hayabusa the onmitsu. Sakuragi, taking a special fancy on Lei-Fang's looks picked her, not knowing that she was no good for newbies.

He also found out a way to use this opportunity to work to his advantage. He would talk Sakuragi into revealing all he knew about Ayako and Ryota while playing.

Koshino relied more on instinct than strategy while playing the game. He just had to place his hand near the counter button and Sakuragi being the amateur that he was kept the ever-popular button mashing style, which was not really suited to a fighting game with DOA2's engine. In Soul Calibur perhaps, it would work but not here.

"So Sakuragi, do you think Ayako likes Ryota?" he began, not keeping his eyes off the monitor.

"Huh?" he asked before the question registered. "I'm not really sure but if you ask me if she likes you better than Ryochin, then no! Nyahahaha!" he laughed his irritating laugh which really pissed off Koshino that when Lei-Fang (Sakuragi) threw her next punch, Hayabusa (Koshino) countered it perfectly and used the three direction combo called Sen Izuna which resulted in a really large portion of Lei-Fang's (Sakuragi) life being chopped off. 

Sakuragi cursed loudly, "Chikusho!"

Next round…

"Who do you think is more… er… obsessed between the two of us?" he asked a boy hell-bent on destroying the arcade piece with his button mashing.

"Eeto… That's hard to tell but you know, Ryochin never went to this extent before," he paused and concentrated a bit with the game before continuing with an evil smile on his face. "You know, trying to corner a poor guy like me in the arcade just to find out things about Ayako-chan…"

Koshino froze and he stopped moving his hands and Lei-Fang(Sakuragi) smothered Hayabusa(Koshino). 

"Nyahahaha! I won! Hey people, did you see that? I won round 2!" Sakuragi announced.

"You mean… he never asks things about…er… her?" Koshino swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Never! Now onto round three!" Sakuragi grinned happily, thinking perhaps that he could win again but of course he didn't. Koshino went back to playing properly and he defeated Sakuragi four times in a row.

"Oh no! You finished all my tokens!" Sakuragi sulked like a little boy. Koshino couldn't help but smile. He even experimented with other characters aside from Hayabusa and he still managed to defeat Sakuragi. He liked Helena…

Suddenly they heard loud cheers from the farthest corner of the arcade where the sporty games were. 

"I wonder who that show-off could be?" Sakuragi pouted and headed towards that direction and Koshino followed. He also wondered where Sakuragi's guntai could be. They were here fifteen minutes ago. _Whatever…_

"Oi Ike Hisashi!" someone cheered with a deep voice but it was overwhelmed by shrill cheers that went, "RUKAWA! RUKAWA! L-O-V-E! RUKAWA!"

"Oh Mitchy's here!" he grinned but suddenly frowned. "… And Kitsune too." He said in disgust.

"Let's see," Koshino said and they squeezed their way onto the crowd. They didn't have much trouble because Sakuragi easily intimidated the other spectators. 

When they got there, they saw Mitsui and Rukawa having a shooting match on the mini-basketball stands.

"Boy, everybody's here," Sakuragi noticed. "Even Yohei and the ugly pompom girls…" Yohei and the others were placing bets on who would win. Everyone seemed to be interested since the two players were already popular, especially Rukawa who was with the All-Japan team. He was also popular in the arcade because if the court wasn't available, he always came there, bringing only one token. Mitsui the fair was also quite popular because as a punk, he was always at those kinds of places and he was remembered with his performance against Shoyo.

"Everyone, please move out a little," Ron requested. "The players need some breathing space here!"

"Yo, Ron!" Sakuragi waved at him and he smiled back when he saw his teammates.

When they reached them, neither Mitsui nor Rukawa was making missed shots and so the battle depended on the speed of each player. Mitsui was shooting balls faster than Rukawa because the latter took more time in aiming unlike, Mitsui who was a veteran shooter.

The three-minute game ended and Mitsui won by an inch. He had 64/72 shots and Rukawa had 60/70.

"YAHOO!" the guntai yelled in delight. "MITCHAN!"

The other betters who had lost looked dejected. They didn't know that the less popular shooting guard was a better shooter than Rukawa.

"Take that, Kitsune!" Sakuragi told the foxy boy who muttered a faint Do-Ahou. Fortunately, Sakuragi didn't hear him. Rukawa walked away as they all congratulated Mitsui. Ron was rubbing Mitsui's hair as he told the crowd, "No surprises there." 

Sakuragi, however, challenged Mitsui, "Beating that Kitsune sure was a piece of cake, but what about taking me in, heh?" Before Mitsui could take the challenge, Ron stood before them and said, "Slow down, Sakuragi, the champion needs rest, maybe some other time, eh?" at this Sakuragi snorted but he understood.

"Ok, how about you Kosh, I see you still have a handful of tokens, eh?"

Sakuragi said eyeing Koshino's tokens very maliciously. Koshino however wasn't himself, he was in deep thought of what Sakuragi told him earlier.

          "Alright," He inserted a token in the Basketball machine slot.

          "Ah, I ran out of tokens remember, you know, you, er," said Sakuragi as Koshino handed him half of his.

The game however didn't go well, Koshino got 59/68 while Sakuragi had 50 out of 74. Ron and Mitsui congratulated Koshino as Sakuragi's guntai were laughing really hard.

          "I want a rematch, now!-" Sakuragi was yelling but,

          "No, really, I need to go home now, I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place, take these and practice your shooting," Koshino said pulling out a handful of tokens from his pocket. He handed them over Sakuragi who looked as though he had just won a lottery.

          "Gee just the way I wanted it." He muttered silently but Ron and Mitsui looked at him with an evil grin on their faces.

          "But, he's not keeping those goodies by himself, is he, Hiro-chan?" Mitsui said to Koshino, his eyes still on the tokens.

          "Ah, yeah, share your blessings, Sakuragi." Said Ron shrewdly.

          "Right." Koshino said as he turned to leave, "Bye guys." He didn't care much; all he knew was that he had to be alone for now.

He walked out of the building looking down and lonely.

          "Even Sakuragi's in favor of Miyagi, I mean of course he is, he's Miyagi's friend and all but…will she choose me?" Koshino muttered to himself on the way home.

TBC


	13. Blaze of Glory

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic. The other characters are from One on One, a basketball game on PS based from Takehiko Inoue's character designs. 

Reviews onegai!

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

**PART 13: ****BLAZE OF GLORY**

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Monday. Koshino woke up looking as though the world has fallen upon his chest. He didn't feel like having a practice but he had to. He had to confront Ayako; he had to hear the words straight from her lips, from her heart. _Who does she like better?_

          The practice started with a game between the seniors and the lower year. This made Koshino feel a bit better for he didn't have to guard Miyagi, and make a fool of himself again. But he knew he had to catch up with Miyagi, he couldn't take the idea of competing out of his mind. It was absurd, and he knew it. After the game he heard Ayako praise Miyagi.

          _I've got to be better. This is stupid, he's one of the top players in the prefecture, and probably the best point guard since Maki and Fujima already graduated. How can I be a match to him? I bet he'll just look at me as though I'm a sea slug if I challenge him to a one on one…but I have to impress her, if that's the last thing I could do, I would. After this practice, I'll ask her._

          And so the tiring practice ended at 4 in the afternoon. Everybody seemed to be exhausted except for Sakuragi who was, well, mocking Rukawa who had just missed his team's winning shot.

          "If he hadn't missed so _many shots we wouldn't have lost that bad. hahaha"_

Although Rukawa just missed 3. Everyone didn't feel like leaving the gym yet, even Koshino. He knew they had to rest and wash themselves. Until all of them were fresh and ready to depart. Kirin and Sakuragi left after Yasu and the other three seniors. Luka and Rukawa walked home together talking about, well, basketball for it was the only thing Rukawa was keen at. Ron and Mitsui, however, were in the corner as Koshino went to them.

          "Well, aren't you two going home yet?" He asked looking at them curiously noticing their red faces and the cans they were holding.

 _So they drink alcohol inside the gym. He thought._

          "Why wanna, hic, walk with us? hic…"  said Ron pretending to have hiccups. Koshino didn't answer, he didn't know how to react.  But just then Ayako emerged from the locker room.

          "Oh, I know, we'll leave you here, shall we?" said Mitsui who was pretending to be dizzy. "Sure you don't wanna walk with us, do you?"

          "Er, right," stammered Koshino. And the two zigzagged their way to the door.

They left their cans as Koshino decided to check these out. To his dismay, they were drinking _coke. __What were they doing? But they were so red they can't just pretend to blush like that. So he smelled the cans, which turned out to be, well, __coke. So he went to the washroom to throw the cans. Inside, he noticed that a fog of steam was covering the whole area, it was hard to see inside so he left the door open to let it out. After throwing the cans, the way was clear enough to see through, just then he noticed that the heater was in maximum, __somebody must have forgotten to- __hey wait a minute, they locked themselves in to be steamed lobsters! They weren't drinking, they left when they saw Ayako and me, THEY WERE SPYING ON ME! HELL I'll be in deep shit with Miyagi… but they swore they wouldn't tell, oh whatever, maybe they'd keep their word. _

          On the other hand, Miyagi was walking home when he noticed he left his dirty shirt in the locker. _Guess I'll go back, mom's gonna kill me, it's been there for three weeks. He thought. He went back to the gym._

          When Koshino walked out of the locker, he found Ayako writing on her tablet. He approached her; his knees were soft as jelly.

          "Er, hi, I hope I'm not disturbing you."

          "Oh, hi Hiroaki. What are you doing here when everyone has left?"

          "Well, I just cleaned the washroom, you see Ron and Mitsui left the heater on and I, er, I had to clear the place. Want me to give you a hand with that?" he pointed at Ayako's tablet.

          "Oh, ah no it's ok. I usually do this, well, in case you don't want to be late for dinner, say, you should go home now. I'll be fine here," she said kindly, smiling at him.

          "Well actually, I'm, er, I was wondering if I can, er have a word with you again, but if you think I'm asking too much, well, you can forget about it and get on with that and I'll wait till you finish. I hope it's okay." He couldn't believe what he had just said. _But what's next? He thought._

          "Okay, I'll just take a minute here."

When Ayako had finished, Koshino turned to her and asked, "I, er, I know this is quite personal and this is not the right time and place but…" he paused. 

          "But what?" Ayako said looking puzzled but beginning to blush.

          "…you see, it hurts me so to see you, er, you know, facing our captain and everything and…I know I don't have the right but I've already told you and I also know that, uh, that he likes you so much probably as much as I do and that you've known each other for long so it has been bothering me for days, weeks I can't remember. Perhaps I have no chance and I don't know what I'll do if you turn me down, Miyagi is far above me and everything, he was the first to, well, like you. I'm sorry I just don't know what I'll do if…but…for all I know well… I love you." He said the last words with conviction and before he could say anything more, Ayako held his hand with both of hers. 

The wind was cold. Koshino felt as though he was a king and his kingdom was heaven. He wasn't dreaming, it was real. The leaves were trembling. And before he absorbed everything he gained at the moment, he leaned closer and touched her face with his free hand. He _was in heaven indeed. He looked at her, she closed her eyes. The night was dark. He leaned even closer and so did she. The moon was pale. Before their lips touched, the door behind them swung open to see the horror on Ryota Miyagi's face._

He stood frozen which seemed to last for hours, his lips trembling, face pale as the moon, eyes dark as the night, stare cold as the wind outside, his fists clenched. Koshino looked away and so did she, letting go of his hand, no one spoke a word until…

          "Sorry to disturb you…" throat to tight to speak, Miyagi made his way straight to the locker room to gather his filthy shirt and left without another word. Pain was in his eyes, agony in his heart. A storm was about to burst and a lightning was about to strike after a tornado had left the place or so it seemed.

TBC


	14. Bridge Over Troubled Water

**Title: Kanagawa Blues**

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic. The other characters are from One on One, a basketball game on PS based from Takehiko Inoue's character designs. 

Reviews onegai!

**PART 14: BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER**

          Miyagi had been absent for three sessions. At first, Mitsui was in great bliss. On the second day, however, he was glad. On the third day, Kirin was already worried.

"I wonder what happened to captain, this is not good…nothing's happening to our…" but before he could finish the statement, Ron gave him a do-you-want-a-nosebleed kinda look. Ron was enjoying his cousin's way of handling the team. Ayako had not arrived yet. She had been looking tired and weary lately and so was Koshino.

          Koshino was beyond worried, he was sure he was the reason so he confronted Ron and Mitsui, who were, well, spying on him before it happened.

          "Ron, Hisashi-san, can I have a word?" he said seriously.

          "Right," they answered.

The two followed Koshino out of the others' earshot.

          "Remember 5 days ago when you two were in the gym, apparently drunk?" He asked them.

          "Yeah, we had a lot of fun that day, didn't we, cousin?" Mitsui winked at Ron.

          "Right you are." Said Ron cheerfully.

          "It was stupid of you. People don't usually remember anything when they're drunk. You were just to see what I was up to." Koshino said coldly.

          "Ok,ok. We were just wondering why you were still there and when we found out we left on the spot. We didn't linger for a second, we swear." Mitsui said, smiling very beautifully.

          "You didn't tell anyone?"

          "Hell no!" Ron answered truthfully. "Why, something happened? A dream come true, I suppose," he teased. But Koshino didn't smile, he just went inside the gym. Ron and Mitsui looked at each other and shrugged and followed him. 

          Kirin was still worried, he was asking Yasuda about Miyagi but no one seemed to have any idea. Until Koshino burst out, "I think I know why, but I'm not sure." 

Everyone turned to look at him, Kirin's face lit up a bit. 

          "It was because of me." Koshino said, his eyes locked on the floor.

          "What do you mean it was because of you? Are you telling us that you…" Sakuragi's words trailed off.

          "Yes."

          "Don't tell us _he learned what he wasn't supposed to?" asked Mitsui looking uncomfortable._

          "Yes."

          "Then you're dead meat?" Kirin asked worriedly.

          "Yes."

          "And you and you know are you know?" Ron asked excitedly though it didn't make any sense to anyone.

          "Yes. I think so."

Sakuragi didn't say a word. He was looking aghast, he understood everything. When Ayako arrived, they started to practice. It didn't go well. Koshino was so gloomy and so as Sakuragi and Kirin. Ayako left at exactly 4, she said goodbye to everyone but she didn't look at them. 

They were fixing their things when Koshino spoke.

"It was my fault," everyone turned to look at him, even Rukawa. "He saw us."

"Doing what?" Mitsui asked.

Koshino didn't know how to answer but he told them everything. 

          "YOU DID WHAT?!" Kirin, Sakuragi, Mitsui and Ron asked together.

Rukawa dropped his towel and muttered something that sounded like 'run for your life'. Luka patted Koshino's shoulder reassuringly. Sakuragi was hysterical and Kirin looked as if he was going to faint. Ron was grinning stupidly and seemed that his mind was elsewhere. 

"Oh no, Kosh," Mitsui said worriedly. "Have you seen Ryota do a high kick-" Mitsui was cut off by a rambling Sakuragi.

"Yeah, and you know what happened!?!" he raised his hands to stress his point. "HE LOST HIS TEETH!!!" he yelled and Koshino swallowed the lump on his throat. These guys weren't making the situation any better.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Ron asked out of the blue, still grinning stupidly.

"This is not a joke, Ron!" Mitsui reprimanded him a bit harshly because he too was panicking. Sakuragi was pacing back and forth furiously. He and the others were making idiotic suggestions on what Koshino should do like:

"Maybe, you should just run away…" Sakuragi suggested to which Ron replied, "No, this is love. I say you two elope…"

Sakuragi's second suggestion was:

"Pretend you're a girl forever…" 

Kirin had a better idea: "Why don't you just pretend you're gay…" Koshino winced at that suggestion. It hit home all right.

"Harakiri?" Mitsui piped up and Ron thought it was a great idea so he said, "That's so romantic…" he looked wistful for a moment. "Dying for love…" 

Finally someone had the best idea…

"Why don't you just explain everything to Miyagi?" Rukawa said flatly.

"Whoa that's the longest sentence you've ever said sempai!" Kirin exclaimed.

"Kaede's right," Luka started. They almost forgot the two because they were so quiet. "I'm sure Captain will understand if you explain the situation properly to him…" he paused reverently. "Or at least he wouldn't kill you right away."

"You, you think so?" Koshino asked shakily. Luka and Rukawa nodded together. Mitsui and Sakuragi didn't approve of this.

"You don't know what you're saying. I mean Ryota, when it comes to Ayako…he might crack your head before you can say 'excuse'." Mitsui told them.

"I see, but if Ayako-sempai talks to him as well, surely he'll listen, even for a minute." Luka said calmly. 

"He's right, maybe you can get Ayako to talk to Miyagi and explain everything about you two. I'm sure he'll understand, it's love." Ron said still grinning wistfully.

"Don't be a prune, Ron, are you trying to get Kosh killed? If Ryota hears it straight from Ayako's lips he'll kill Kosh for sure before he kills _himself, no doubt." Mitsui said rubbing his chin._

"Yeah, I remember the time when he saw me with Ayako, he dove at me like a crazy diver and by the look in his eyes I could tell he was really gonna kill me." Sakuragi said darkly.

"Ok, I'll talk to Ayako-senpai, we can't go on practicing without captain. I'll tell her to calm captain down first and then you'll have to face him after." Kirin told Koshino. 

"You'll do that for me?" Koshino asked Kirin.

"That's the least I can do."

"Thanks."

Koshino didn't say another word, he fixed his things and turned to go when Ron and Mitsui called out, "Hey, we're sorry for what happened last time, we were just curious about how much you, er, like her." Mitsui said.

          "No, it's okay, you didn't tell anyone, I know."

          "Yeah, but it's good to see lovers and-" Ron added but Mitsui gave him a warning look, "I mean, do you want us to give you a ride?"

          "No thanks, I need to be alone."

He walked home with his head down. He was as troubled as water.

TBC


	15. The Heat Is On

**Disclaimer: **Slam Dunk and the other One-on-One characters are not ours and so are the songs featured in the following selection.  
  
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**Kanagawa Blues**

**By: Castor and Pollux**

**PART 15: THE HEAT IS ON**

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Koshino didn't know what to feel. Half of him was scared; the other half was in great joy, though the whole of him was troubled. He didn't seem to feel like going anywhere. He was in bed all day. _I've got to face Miyagi, I've got to tell him what's going on between us and he'll have to answer to me or he'll go crazy, it's just that. He can't just wrestle me in front of her, she wouldn't like that. If his madness is going in our way that shouldn't be, it would destroy the team. Tomorrow this is over. He thought._

          And so lonely Koshino went to his sleep till the morning came._ After eating breakfast, he went straight to the bathroom and hit the road. He arrived exactly on time. Everyone was there, except for, again, Miyagi and Sakuragi. His stomach lurched when he saw Ayako. He looked at her, she noticed him and smiled slightly, or he thought she did, whatever, he smiled back. Kirin was looking nervous, he approached Koshino and said, "Sakuragi had gone off to Captain's house." _

          "It's about time we get this over with." Koshino answered

Not long after they started their practice, Sakuragi arrived with Miyagi. Mitsui swallowed the lump in his throat as Ron excused himself and went to the locker room. Kirin was sweating profusely. Luka and Rukawa looked away. Yasuda looked at Miyagi, half-glad and half-worried. Koshino summoned all his courage, straightened up and looked at Miyagi. Sakuragi was staring at Koshino and nodded as if to encourage him. 

To break the tension, Kakuta and Kuwata greeted Miyagi, "Welcome back captain." He just nodded in acknowledgment. He looked at Koshino and then Ayako. Ayako gave him a pleading look as if to say that she could explain everything. Miyagi nodded, but he looked back at Koshino, Kirin could bear this no longer, he went to the locker room, just like what Ron did. Miyagi went straight to Koshino. Mitsui opened his mouth as if to stop Miyagi from doing what he was to do. Sakuragi mounted in case Koshino was about to receive a blow. Yasuda looked at Mitsui as if to ask him to do something. But they just all stood there watching, until Miyagi broke the silence.

"Can I have a word? In private please," he told Koshino, restraining himself.

"Sure." Koshino said, the expression in his face didn't change.

Miyagi led him outside the gym, in the empty baseball field. Kirin and Ron went out of the locker room at last.

          "Mitsui-san, aren't you going to stop them?" Kirin asked.

          "Could anyone stop the growing tension between them? No, it's at its peak and what would happen, we do not know but we could let them be…" came the reply

Kirin then turned to Sakuragi.

          "Sakuragi-san, why did you let this happen? I thought we would consult Ayako-sempai first?"

          "We have no part to play, what is to come, we cannot stop. What would you have done if you were in my place?" Sakuragi answered seriously.

          "They can settle this if they choose to, and perhaps they may not if they want it the dirty way. Right now all we can do is wait." Luka said without looking at them. Rukawa passed him a ball and they continued their practice.

          "Yeah, why don't we just practice?" proposed Ron, for the first time, he was serious.

          At the baseball field, the two stood a meter apart. The hatred in Miyagi's face was immeasurable. Koshino's face had never been so fierce. Again, Miyagi spoke first.

          "You owe Hanamichi a lot, I would've dragged you here and given you a taste."

"There was nothing between you and Ayako in the first place, why so furious?"  Koshino asked as his eyes narrowed.

Miyagi's eyebrows almost touched his eyes.

          "You don't know what you're bragging about. Do you think she'll choose you when she has someone like me? I knew it when you first stepped in the gym, that you'd bring hell, I'm not gonna let that." Ryota said this scornfully.

          "Hell to you. If you think I mean nothing to her, why did you have me here? Why not let it be instead, if what you saw meant nothing to you?"

          Miyagi clenched his teeth. His fists were burning. But Koshino didn't move, and as fast as sound, Miyagi hit him on the face. Koshino recoiled but he didn't return the blow. Blood streamed from his lips, he wiped it off with his fist, still looking at Miyagi. He didn't say a word and just stood there as if waiting for another blow. And again he received a blow, this time on the stomach.   He dropped to his knees, blood was coming out of his mouth, he wiped it again. Miyagi positioned to give him the third blow, a roundhouse kick, but before his foot hit Koshino's shoulder, Koshino grabbed his leg and put it aside slowly and said, "This is going nowhere, she has chosen _me. No point denying."_

          Miyagi couldn't believe his ears though the words hit him really hard, even harder than the blows he was giving Koshino.

          "DAMN YOU! GO TO HELL! You filthy piece of lying bastard! That's not true!" Miyagi cursed as he dove at him. He was on top of Koshino. Koshino couldn't count how many blows he received for all he knew Miyagi wasn't stopping 'til he was knocked down. Miyagi wouldn't stop, he was going to kill him. At last, Koshino moved, he had enough. He pushed Miyagi aside with all his might that's left in him. He coughed a few drops of blood and said,

          "Let's settle this once and for all… you go and ask her, I'll wait here. But be ready, you wouldn't like what you are to hear…"

          Miyagi tried to restrain himself, he was breathing really fast, as though he had just finished 50 laps.

          "You aim too high, it's not that easy. If you think you'll have her that fast and early, no way, you're dreaming." Miyagi said roughly.

          "Then what is it you saw? Isn't that evidence? A sign? Tell me, have you been in that situation before? I don't tell you this out of pride, you can beat me right now and give me more blows, but you are the one who has to wake up." Koshino said nobly.

          "You have nothing, I can have those if I want to. Now tell me what chance do you stand? I've been here before you, what I saw is what she needs, it didn't matter if it came from you or from me." Miyagi said mockingly.

          "She's not like that, you know that, we both know that. You're looking for flaws to cover the truth but it's gonna come out, that I'm sure of. Do not speak ill of the one who is dear to you," answered Koshino weakly, knowing he was going to faint.

          "Darn you." Miyagi's lips curled bitterly. "I'm not gonna lose to you…she has been through a lot of this even before you met her. You're only too thick to come this far and that's all you've got…you are not but another year that passes her by, another cheeky admirer…another _loser…" Miyagi said even more mockingly. Koshino couldn't answer so Miyagi continued, "Put this inside that thick skull of yours; in the end, she'll have __me." _

He turned to go, leaving Koshino lying helplessly with blood all over his shirt, he was coughing painfully. Miyagi stopped and turned around, he threw a handkerchief on Koshino's chest and went. On his way back to the gym, Miyagi saw Sakuragi, Mitsui, Yasuda and Ayako running towards his direction.

          "What happened?" Yasuda asked worriedly.

          "Are you okay?" Sakuragi asked.

Miyagi didn't answer, he pointed to the baseball field without looking at them. 

The three boys ran towards the field but Ayako just stood there watching Miyagi walk away. "Ryota…" she whispered shakily. He heard this, he stopped for a second but continued walking. She was about to go to the field when she saw that the three were carrying Koshino. She covered her mouth when she saw the blood on his shirt. Mitsui was shaking his head. Yasuda was wiping the blood off his lips. Sakuragi was asking Koshino,

          "Why did you tell him? Why didn't you even stand out? We've warned you…"

But he received no answer; Koshino had already fainted. They took him to the gym. 

When they arrived, Ryota was nowhere to be seen. They laid Koshino on the floor. When they saw him, Kirin covered his head, while Ron dropped the ball he was holding. They all went to see, but Luka spoke.

          "Everyone, please step aside he needs air."

          "Right. Rukawa, hand me the towels. Toki, get the first aid kit in the locker room. Kirin, water please." Ayako ordered impatiently as the three obeyed.

          "How could anyone do this?" Kakuta muttered under his breath.

          "Don't you think we should take him to the hospital?" Ron asked.

          "No need to panic, I'm sure he'll be fine, it's not that serious, Ayako can manage." Mitsui told him.

          Sakuragi was worrying about two things: Koshino's physical injuries and Miyagi's emotional pain, so he asked, "Where is Ryochin?"

No one wanted to answer, but Luka pointed to the shower room.

          "We think he's drowning himself." Rukawa said blankly. With this, Sakuragi ran to the shower room.

TBC

**A/N:** Reviews please


	16. All Apologies

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic.

**Kanagawa Blues**

**By: Castor and Pollux**

**PART 16: ALL APOLOGIES**

He waited for Miyagi to finish though he didn't actually know what to tell him. When Miyagi had finished, Sakuragi closed the door behind him and faced Miyagi.

          "You shouldn't have done that, Ryochin. There are a lot of ways to settle this, but this…"

          "What would you have done? I already told you before, Hanamichi, you know me. When it comes to this…"          

          "You ruined it yourself, you have just given her a reason to look at you in a different way. You have just given him the lead."

          Miyagi covered his head and sat down. Sakuragi sat beside him and said, "I'm trying to help you. You must forget about everything for just a little while to let it cool off. And wait for the right time to settle this."

          "But how? You know how I am, you know I think of her all the time…"

          "I believe in you even if you did the horrible…Ryochin, do not let this get you, this is the last thing Ayako wanted to happen so did I…and I believe you'll win her back." But even as Sakuragi said this with conviction, he wasn't sure. He knew Koshino was now ahead of him.

          "But she likes him too!" said Miyagi who was now beginning to sob.

Sakuragi didn't know what to say. He tapped Miyagi's back. Sakuragi was about to say, _of course she does, you saw it yourself, but he realized what he was in for._

          "We're not so sure about that, maybe it's just, well, Kosh is kinda good-looking but that's all, they have just met. Maybe Ayako was just, er, out of her mind at the moment." Sakuragi said foolishly.

          "What do I have to do? I'm losing…"

          "Who? You? Never. Ryochin, you've got to put yourself together. You just have to let it pass and calm yourself down. You can tell Ayako that you didn't mean to do such thing and she'll surely listen."

          "What if she already hates me? What if she throws me away? Oh, Hanamichi, I have never been in so much shit in my life! You're right, I've ruined everything."

          "You're being paranoid. Of course, that's not going to happen, I assure you." Again, Sakuragi wasn't sure of what he was saying but he went on, "All you have to do is, well, be matured and show her that you've changed. You're the captain, you're taking care of many things, prove to her that you can manage everything. And that you won't be very, er, possessive again and…" he paused trying to find the right words, "…you have to apologize to Koshino, you see, it wasn't his fault."

          "NO WAY! He deserved it! I was living my life happily and there he goes and annihilated my world! Hanamichi, I thought we're best friends? Why are you doing this to me, asking me to do the hardest thing in the world! I'm so miserable, you're taking sides, how could you hurt me even more when you see I'm in a tortured state!?" He said tugging Sakuragi's shirt hysterically. Sakuragi wanted to whack his head but thought better of it.

          "Of course I'm taking sides, you know I'm always on _your side. Er, why don't you, just get the hell off my shirt and do as I say?"_

          "But Hanamichi, it's not that easy, I couldn't stand his face for a second. He took Ayachan from me, can't you understand?"

          "First and foremost, Ryochin, she belongs to no one yet, okay. I've told you not to be so possessive. Secondly, do you think she'd like it if you didn't apologize to Kosh? Lastly, it's not over yet, if you'll explain, she would surely understand. Trust me or you'll be dead meat."

Miyagi was staring at the floor; he wasn't ready. _Maybe next time. He thought. _

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not tomorrow, not the next day but today. You have to apologize right now. You can talk to Ayako whenever you want, it can wait but not the other one."

Miyagi stared at Sakuragi and nodded nervously.

"Alright. I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but if you say so, fine."

He stood up and breathed deeply. Sakuragi nodded slowly. _Here goes nothing. Miyagi thought. _

He went out of the locker room. Everybody turned to look. He headed to the corner where Koshino was lying. Kirin made a motion as if to stop him but Mitsui held his shoulder and shook his head. So frustrated Miyagi went straight to Koshino who wasn't making any move. _Boy, ain't I lucky he wouldn't have to hear this. He thought._

_"I'm sorry__," he said without looking at anybody, not even Ayako. But nobody was pleased at this abhorrent attitude as he turned to go._

"What are you doing? You'll have to say it when he wakes up, and besides what happened in that field needs explanation," said Mitsui in a very surprising manner. He seemed to be too sure and righteous concerning the matter, he was serious.

"Explain what to who? Honestly, do I have to plead for his forgiveness when he's the one who's too cheeky to admit that this is his entire fault? Or are you just taking sides because you're not liking what you see? I know you, Hisashi, as you ought to remember." Ryota declared angrily. He was on fire.

"I don't give a fuck about what you think. Do you still see this as fair play? You're being too childish for your age, is this all you can give to Mr. Anzai after appointing you as team captain? Starting an awful fight among _his teammates? _

I won't hear any more shit from you lest you apologize and explain your side and Koshino will do likewise." Mitsui said flatly, there was a trace of bitterness on his face Miyagi didn't like.

          "I'll do it if that's what you ask for, Mitsui, but don't expect me to forgive you right away. You'll have to see who's the more reasonable."

          "And so I will if my thinking is proven to be wrong." Mitsui said with a happier tone.

And Ryota waited 'til Koshino regained his senses. He walked towards him and knelt beside him.

          "I'm sorry, I lost my temper for what I saw is disgusting…" Miyagi said in a low voice. Ayako didn't expect him to say such insult. She was stunned, _Ryota, how could you? Beating Hiroaki up and now this? How hardheaded can you get? She thought as he continued,_

          "I promise not to beat you again for the sake of being a good captain," he told Koshino as he straightened up and walked out of the door. Koshino didn't know what to say though a great desire to kick Miyagi out of the stadium came over him.  

He just watched as their captain took leave of them. _I didn't fight back for the sake of my neck and so as yours. I expected better than this, and you have just given me shit, Miyagi. Koshino thought. But he didn't react. He just sighed and touched his forehead. __I'm fine, thank god. He thought. He looked around at everybody and tried to stand up. Yasuda helped him to his feet._

          "Are you okay?" Mitsui asked.

          "Yeah, I'm fine."

Just then, Ayako stepped forward and told him, "I'm sorry about Ryota's behavior. I don't like it either but you have to promise us that you'll stay in the team no matter how he treats you."

          "Of course I would, next season is my last chance. Listen, can I skip practice today?"

"Sure, you need rest." Ayako said gravely.

Just then Ron walked to them and said, "I'll drive you home. You're not gonna refuse, are you?" he pointed at Koshino's cuts. 

And so Ron drove him home. When they reached Koshino's home, "Thanks for the ride, Ron."

          "Sure, anytime. Hey, what are you gonna tell your parents? They might ask you to leave the team when they find out."

          "I don't know. Accident, maybe."

Ron tapped his shoulder and said, "Alright that's best. I'll see you next time when you're better. Bye."

          "Bye, thanks again."

TBC

**A/N: **We don't ask for much in life, just a few reviews maybe… hint, hint


	17. More Than Words

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

**PART 17: MORE THAN WORDS**

          Koshino walked straight to his bedroom when his brother noticed his cuts. He followed Koshino to his bedroom. This didn't surprise Koshino.

          "What happened, Hiroaki?" Waki asked worriedly as he closed the door behind him.

          "Nothing. Accident…"

          "Accident? Who are you fooling? Someone beat you up, who's this guy?" Waki asked.

          "Okay, I'll tell you, but you're not gonna tell mom and dad, are you?"

          "I won't. But I'm sure they'll know about it soon, those cuts aren't hard to notice."

          Hiroaki told him everything and when he finished, Waki spoke, "Why didn't you fight back? I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, are you gay or something?" 

          "You don't understand, if I fought back I'm sure he wouldn't stop. I don't want anyone, especially Ayako, to get away with the idea that I'm another crack-head git."

          "What are you planning to do now? I'm sure you wouldn't tell mom or dad cos they'll cuss about it for like… forever and they probably wouldn't let you stay on the team."

          "If they find out I'll just promise them that it's not gonna happen again, Miyagi gave his word. At least I didn't turn out a loser."

          "Okay, if this happens again I'll crack his skull myself. You rest, okay, and you call me if you need something." Waki said looking outside the window.

          "Yeah, thanks."

          Waki was to walk out when he remembered something.

          "Ah, by the way, Sendoh-kun called a while ago, I told him you were in practice so he just said he'll call you later. Er, he's still your friend, and it won't hurt if you tell him about, er, this. I mean you two know each other very much and he seems to be very concerned about you, I think he can help you." Waki said and walked out of the room without another word. Koshino wasn't sure if he would tell Sendoh. _Maybe I don't have to tell him everything…or maybe he can help. Whatever, he thought. _

          Waki brought him food at seven telling Hiroaki what lame excuses he told their parents. "Mom and dad called and I told them you were tired and that you want to be alone. Gosh, I didn't know it would be that hard." And he left him again. 

          He was bored. He needed to talk to someone so he picked up the phone and dialed Sendoh's number.

          "Hello, may I speak with Akira?"

          "Ey, Hiroaki, this is Akira speaking. Er, I called earlier but they said you were in practice."

          "Yeah. Hey, I, er, would you come over? You see, my dad's not home 'til midnight and I think we can have a little talk. I haven't seen you for awhile."

          "Ah. Okay that would be nice. I'll be there in an hour."

          "Alright, I'll wait for you then. Bye." And they hung up.

          Sendoh arrived at 8:30 and Waki led him to Hiroaki's room. He wondered why Hiroaki wouldn't go down. When he knocked at his door, Hiroaki asked him to enter.

Sendoh was too shocked to say anything; he couldn't believe anyone would do such to a boy like Koshino who was liked by everyone in Ryonan High. He sat on the chair beside the bed.

          "Hiroaki, what happened, who did this to you?" Sendoh asked finally reacting.

          "I'll tell you, but tell me how's the team going? How are you?" 

          "We're doing alright but not as ok when you were around, and I think I'm better since you-I mean-I'm more than glad to see you again, you see' I've been looking forward to chat with you but our schedule is you know…so what happened?" Sendoh asked, not able to hide his anxiety.

          Koshino told him everything from the first time he met Ayako. Sendoh didn't know how to react. But he couldn't blame Koshino as well. He held Koshino's hand and looked at him directly.

          "You are, somehow, responsible for what happened. You shouldn't have made Miyagi that angry…" Sendoh said.

          "I know. I was wrong."

          "Everything will cool off." Sendoh said reassuringly though his heart was pierced. He loved Koshino still beyond words. But he knew that the best he could hope for was this.

          "Thanks. I hope you're right." Hiroaki said. Sendoh smiled at him.

          "So, the exhibition games are two weeks away, are you playing?" Sendoh asked

          "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah, for the first time we'll be playing against each other, I hope you'll do well." Sendoh said without looking at Koshino. He wasn't really happy about it.

"We'll see. I'm sure you're giving them a good job, I mean you're a great captain. I hope next season will be ours, Shohoku and Ryonan to the nationals."

Sendoh couldn't help but smile at this, "Shohoku's strong, no questions there. As for Ryonan, I promised Uozomi-san and Ikegami-san that we'd make it to the nationals. I don't know what would happen if we didn't make it, I mean, coach is more obsessed than ever. I hope Kainan won't stand on our way, Hikoichi said Jin Soichiro's the new captain and he and the whole team had started practicing two months ago, right after nationals." He said.

"I hope so, that would make them champion 18 years in a row if they'd reach nationals. I heard Shoyo's doing well too, I mean Fujima and Hanagata, they've been visiting the new team during practice and train them. I heard Fujima even offered that he would coach the team, he said he could handle it. I've also heard they have two super rookies, who are twins." Koshino told Sendoh.

"We'll beat them all, I'm sure. We're not gonna let them this time, this is our last chance." Sendoh said.

"I hope you're right."

Sendoh stared out of the window for a while and turned to Koshino, "Listen. I have to go. I have to run an errand for my mom. You take care okay, and I'll see you later when you're fine and we can have more time."

"Okay, thanks for coming over."

"Sure, I'm glad to see you again. Catch you later." Sendoh said as he stood up. Koshino watched as he walked out and closed the door. 

TBC

**A/N: If you review, we'll keep posting.**


	18. Cool Change

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic.

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

**PART 18: COOL CHANGE**

**            Three days later…**

Ayako and Koshino tried to avoid each other as much as possible. Miyagi seemed to be watching them a lot. This didn't bother Koshino at all. 

W_ho is he anyway? he thought. But he didn't want to start another fight so he stopped flirting with her. The practice was going well, Mitsui called their attention and announced,_

          "We all know that the exhibition games are almost a week away. Coach wants us to show how strong we are so I expect you'll do well. Now I want to announce the starting line-up for the upcoming games and for the whole of next season. For point guard, none other than Ryota Miyagi. For shooting guard, Luka Tenshi and for center," he paused for a moment and grinned, "the invincible Ron Taichiko, for small forward, Kaede Rukawa and lastly, for power forward, Hanamichi Sakuragi. Congratulations to you guys and play well. As for the others, you'll get to play whenever substitutions are necessary. Ikeda, you'll back-up the captain, Koshino you can replace Luka in case, Kakuta for Ron, Yasu for Rukawa and Sakuragi, I'll back you up for the summer, I mean that's not likely but just in case, anyway, for the official season, Ishii will be your sub. Any questions?"

          Sakuragi raised his left hand fervently and Mitsui nodded.

          "Mitchy, aren't you too old to play? You should be joining college basketball by now." Sakuragi asked nastily as Ron gave him an I'll-teach-you-a-lesson kinda look. Mitsui however barely reacted the way he used to whenever he was insulted.

          "As you ought to know, Sakuragi, Shoyo is offering us a practice game. They've got the twin super rookies who were desired by big schools such as Ryonan, Kainan, Miuradai, Takezato and even Shohoku. One of them won last year's junior basketball MVP award though the other one was also a candidate and the team captain. Now Shoyo wouldn't show everything they've got so Hanagata and Fujima will also play for the whole summer and that gives me reason to demand the best from all of you. So what's wrong with me backing you up?" He said sternly. Everyone gasped at the mention of the superstars' names, except for Ron who said,

          "Wow, Hisashi, where did you dig those info? Been workin' really hard eh?"

          "Well, sources. I talked to Fujima last week and as for the twins, they graduated from Takeishi High, you know, my former school. I still have friends there and a former teammate told me about them, he had played with them as a matter of fact." Mitsui answered. 

          And the team practiced from 7 in the morning 'til 4 in the afternoon. Mr. Anzai however, didn't show up, according to Ayako he had to visit an ill nephew.

The session didn't turn out that bad, everyone seemed to be looking forward to the said practice game which will be held a day before the official summer games. 

          Koshino was quite excited as well. He wanted to talk to Ayako again because he knew he had to. _Maybe next time. He thought. Miyagi, however, didn't even look at him, not even to throw him some dirty looks. Koshino was having second thoughts on asking Ayako out again but he knew what it would result to. __I'll wait 'til school starts, then I'll have more time. Not now, I have to focus for the games. He thought._

          After the practice, everyone left gym, they were all tired. Koshino rode his bike still thinking about making it up to Ayako though she had gotten over it. He was wondering if it didn't matter to her anymore, if she'd say no, he wouldn't know what to do. _I've got to get her off my mind for a while._

          The Shoyo players were to arrive at any minute. Everybody was excited at the same time nervous except for Sakuragi who was bragging about beating the twins single-handedly,

          "Leave them to me, I'll know how to tame them once I've had a good look, and as for Bench-warmer (Fujima) and Glassman (Hanagata), I've memorized their cheesy moves and so-called strategy…hahaha!" Just then, the Shoyo players arrived with Fujima and Hanagata.

          The two teams greeted each other and after that they decided to prepare themselves for the introduction of the new players. Shoyo went first.

          "I will coach the team for now and I think Toru and I will act as back-ups for the moment." Fujima said as Mitsui stepped forward and said,

          "I will act as back-up too and I'll coach the team as well since Anzai-sensei hasn't arrived yet. For now I introduce to you four of our new members." Ron, Kirin, Luka and Koshino stepped forward, "This is Ron Taichiko, he's in his third year, Luka Tenshi of second year, Kirin Ikeda of first year and Hiroaki Koshino, I suppose you already know him, he played for Ryonan during his first two years." 

          Hanagata and Fujima nodded and motioned for the new members. There were only three of them. 

          "This is Hazuki Inoh, a freshman," said Fujima as a tall light-haired boy stepped forward to show himself to everyone. "These two are Aya and Sayo Kawamizara, also freshmen," he continued as the two jet black-haired boys stepped forward. 

_They must be the twins Mitsui was warning us about. Everybody thought. They didn't seem to be intimidating at all for they weren't tall enough compared to the former Shoyo boys who had played against Shohoku last season. They looked very young and peaceful, they had pale white skin just like Rukawa's though their eyes weren't like his, they were deep black and much larger. Fujima grinned as the two greeted them._

          "Well then I suppose we should start." Mitsui proposed as Fujima and Hanagata nodded in agreement.

          The starting line-up of Shoyo was composed of three tall guys and the twins who were wearing number 10 and 11. They were the only members who did not pass 190 cm. Mitsui appointed Kuwata to referee the game. Ron and the Shoyo center who was 6 cm taller than him were asked to position themselves for the jump ball. 

Shohoku got the first ball by Miyagi. He passed it to Luka who was deciding whom he should pass it to, Rukawa or Ron or Sakuragi who were all motioning. He gave it to Rukawa by an overhead pass, just when Rukawa caught it, a hand as swift as wind grabbed the ball from him. "Shit!" he muttered. It was Kawamizara in number 10 who was followed closely by the other Kawamizara. They were aiming for a fast break. 

Miyagi, Rukawa and Sakuragi were fast, they were to catch up, but it was a fake, the boy had just passed it to his brother between Rukawa and Sakuragi. It was so close that they almost caught it. They tried to block him but before they were on the peak of their launch to tap the ball, the opponent had dunked the ball, in their faces. Everyone looked aghast. Toru's lips curled into a satisfied grin, but Fujima wasn't so glad about it, "That was reckless of you," he told the freshman. 

Sakuragi and Rukawa were on fire. "I'll show you, showy freshmen." Sakuragi said as Rukawa muttered, "Not next time." 

Miyagi tapped their shoulders and said, "Don't mind, at least now we know." However, he was bothered. _With that height?__ They're only about 10 or 11 cm taller than I am. _

          The first half ended with Shohoku leading by 12. Fujima and Hanagata entered to replace the twins in the second half; the lead was cut down to 5. Just then, Mitsui decided to enter. Koshino also played for a few minutes, he did quite well. Shohoku wouldn't allow the visitors to win; the game ended and Shohoku won by three. The team cheered as the Shoyo players formed a line to shake hands with the winner.

          When the visitors had left, Sakuragi was cursing the opponents, "Darn, you should've let me handle those showy freshmen. I told you I'd beat them with each of my hands! And you should've left Glassman to me as well." he told Mitsui as Ron and Rukawa snorted.

          "Relax, I told you they wouldn't show what they've got, Fujima let them play for only twenty minutes. Anyway, you all did well, I hope you'll keep it up." Mitsui said.

          When everyone was ready to leave, Koshino waited for everyone. But he just watched; he didn't want to talk to Ayako for now. _I think I'll just call her. He thought._

TBC

**A/N: If you review, we'll keep posting ^_^.**


	19. Not the One

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic.

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

**PART 19: NOT THE ONE**

            Hiroaki was having dinner with his family when his father asked, "So, Hiroaki, any luck with this girl you told us about?" Waki choked as Hiroaki tugged his sleeve out of his father's notice.

            "I've asked her out, but only once. She seemed to be okay with me and that…but I haven't asked her to be, er, you know." Hiroaki answered

            "Well, don't go too fast, son."

            "Yeah, I know." They continued eating, Hiroaki gave Waki a warning look as he busied himself with his food.

            After eating, Hiroaki went straight to his bedroom and picked up the phone. He dialed Ayako's number.

            "Hello? May I speak with Ayako?" he asked though he knew it was her who answered the phone.

            "Ah, this Ayako speaking."

            "Ayako, well, I was, er…I dunno how to say this but, we need to talk, you know that. And I don't think we can talk about it at practice due to…"

            "I know. I was thinking about calling you," she said

            "Well, what happened between Miyagi and me I did not expect, I didn't mean to be so fast but I hope you understand. I didn't intend to hurt him or you but I just told him what was between us, that was all I got to tell him and nothing else. Please don't be mad at me, that's all I ask. I was wrong for telling him what was happening between us," Koshino said all this naturally.

            "It's okay, I mean, It's really nice of you for not fighting back and…what was happening between us, you alone are not responsible," shge answered

            "Ayako…don't turn me down. I'm not gonna ask anything of you as long as necessary, maybe when school starts I can…you know ask you out again or when everything is better." Koshino said

            "That'd be fine with me. I hope Ryota and you could get along but, well at least now, it's better. Hey, I have to go now…"

            "Ah, okay. I'll see you in practice." They hung up.

            He looked at his watch and thought, _Ey, I'll check out the movies. He grabbed his cap and went to the movies with his hands in his pockets. He decided that he should watch The Count of Monte Cristo. He chose the first box in cinema 10 where he and Sendoh used to watch. Not far from where he sat he noticed two boys sitting nearby, they seemed to be too busy talking with each other to notice other people around. He caught a glimpse of them; the other boy was wearing a pair of glasses while the other one in maroon shirt looked familiar. Koshino didn't bother finding out who they were. He just sat there looking at them though his mind was wandering off somewhere. He watched until the two left their seats and walked out of the cinema, hand in hand and laughing to themselves. He remembered the days when he was with Sendoh; it was so much like this scene. _

_Those days were happy… __Darn, Hiroaki, what the hell are you thinking!? Why don't you just watch the film? He thought as he focused himself to the film. He watched 'til the film ended, he didn't like it. It was different from the novel he had read. __It's not supposed to have a good ending. __Whatever.__ I've had enough of heart breaking shit lately. _

When he walked out of the cinema, he saw the two boys saying their good-byes to each other, the boy who was wearing glasses kissed the other boy on the cheek. Koshino didn't like that scene, not the idea of it but the loneliness it brought upon him. Many thoughts entered his mind before he realized that he knew who the boy with glasses was, _Isn't he that boy who fired a three-pointer during the last minute of Ryonan's game versus Shohoku last season? _

He watched as the boy went inside a cab and said goodbye to the other boy again. _No, I must've been imagining things. Koshino thought. Just then, the boy in maroon shirt turned around, his jaw dropped for his eyes were not deceiving him. It was Mitsui. _

_Can it be? They were teammates before, but that's not what you call a friendly kiss, but Mitsui, he's very manly and handsome and straight… or I thought he was. Koshino's mind was raving; he had been spying on his teammate. Before Mitsui could spot him, he turned around and headed straight to the ice cream store still thinking about what he had just saw. __I need to cool off. If Mitsui finds out I saw everything…can it be that he's gay?  He ordered eight scoops of ice cream though he could only finish one. _

            "You think you can finish that?" asked the cashier who was looking at him, utterly perplexed.

            "Yeah, sure" He answered as he paid.

            He was walking with his head down, his ice cream melting. He couldn't clear his mind, then he bumped into a tall guy,

            "Hey, watch it." said a deep voice, Koshino looked up and saw that the guy was wearing a maroon shirt. It was Mitsui and he was smiling at him. Before Koshino could speak, "What are you doing here, Kosh? And I didn't know you eat too much." Mitsui said pointing at his melting ice cream, its colors were all mixed up for he ordered 8 different flavors.

            "Ah, this? I, er, I just wanted to try it out and-"

            "Well I have just been to get ice cream, would you come with me?"

            Koshino hesitated but said, "Sure"

            "So, I suppose you didn't come here just to get ice cream, did you see the movies?" Mitsui asked as they headed to the store.

            "No, I was just, well, hanging around and I was planning to watch, er, The Count of Monte Cristo, yeah that's it. But I've changed my mind, you see I don't think it's cool." Koshino lied, he didn't want to tell Mitsui that he saw him with his boyfriend.

            "Oh, yeah, I've just watched it and it was, well, it was okay." Mitsui said as Koshino nodded.

            "Er, you think so? I saw you with-I mean-I already saw the trailer and I think they altered a lot of   scenes and were you watching because I thought you were just flirting-I mean-it was really boring I suppose-"

            "Hiroaki what are you saying? Are you ok? I didn't get a word you said."

Mitsui asked him looking puzzled. Luckily he didn't hear what Koshino was babbling about for he was ordering his ice cream at the moment.

"Oh, nothing I was just glad to see someone who's also gay-I mean-someone like me who's, you know, wandering off this place alone…" Koshino said nervously.  This time, Mitsui didn't miss it.

            "You saw me, didn't you?"

            "Yes-no-I mean-of course I did-not-"

            "You were in the movies weren't you and you saw-"

            "I wasn't spying, ok. I just wanted to go to the movies cos I miss Akira-chan-I mean-I want to be alone…"

            "I understand, wanna walk along the beach?" Mitsui asked calmly.

Koshino was silent for he remembered the days when he and Sendoh had fun walking by the seashore at noon.

            "Sure, no problem."

            The two went to the beach and Koshino told Mitsui about him and Sendoh. Mitsui didn't seem to be surprised by this, he just looked across the beach and then told Koshino what was between him and Kogure.

            "I know it's not normal, but people just get lonely at times and they need someone, a special someone. If you still have this feeling for him then what about Ayako? I mean she seems to like you back, do you still…" Mitsui said

            "I don't know, Akira is different, I can't describe, but for now I don't know what I feel for Ayako, she seems special but I can't-"

            "You can't let go of Sendoh." Mitsui helped. Koshino nodded as Mitsui continued, "It happens, you don't know what you like. But look at me, we're happy, I mean Kiminobu and I. Sometimes we get lonely and it seems that girls are the only ones who could fill the void. But what if suddenly we learn that it doesn't matter if it's a girl or a boy? Maybe that's your case, and as of mine…I learned that what I needed was a male and it just feels right to have him by my side."

            "Maybe. I couldn't just throw it all away. But Mitsui, how could you stand being scorned by others for what you are? How come you know it's wrong and still go on with it?" Koshino asked the older boy.

            "If you're satisfied with that, you could bear anything. I don't know, I once had a girlfriend and we got along very well though I didn't feel the same way, that was when I realized I had to let go. It wasn't the same as having Kiminobu around. If you really like Ayako as well, maybe it's different from mine. You have to know who matters more to you. You can't have two at a time. You don't call it a relationship, it's _cheating." Mitsui told him as the last word rang in Koshino's head._

            "Wow, you seem to know a lot. Thanks for helping me. I mean I've never been so confused. But Mitsui, does anyone else know anything about this? Ron for instance?" 

            "That, I forbid you to tell, he will know at the right time, but for now I do not regret telling you about it." He smiled when he said this. "Listen, I have to go now. You think about what I've told you, okay."

            "Yeah, thanks a lot." They parted and Koshino's heart lightened a bit.

TBC

If you review, we'll keep posting ^_^.


	20. Foolish Games

**Disclaimer: We do not own the SD boys but we sure as hell want to own Akira **

        Sendoh drool We also do not own the songs featured in this fic.

**Title:  Kanagawa Blues**

**PART 20: FOOLISH GAMES**

          Koshino went home absorbing everything Mitsui told him. _Maybe he's right. But I don't know what I want. He was confused. He went to bed quite early, he didn't even have dinner. When he woke up, he still had 2 and ½ hours to prepare for practice._

          "Darn, I shouldn't have slept that early." He said to himself but he decided to go to the gym early to help Kirin and the sophomores clean. 

He was utterly surprised to see that their gym had only two occupants at the time; Rukawa and Luka. __

_Luka attends practice 30 minutes before schedule to clean but I don't know about Rukawa. Whatever. I'll just help them. He went to them and asked,_

"Want me to give you guys a hand?" 

"That'd be fine." Luka said smiling at him, Rukawa, however, didn't seem to be very glad about this. Koshino noticed Rukawa's slight disappointment but he chose to ignore this, after all, he was just trying to help. 

Koshino grabbed a mop and started the floor on the other side of the gym while Luka and Rukawa did the other half. They cleaned silently.

Four minutes later, Koshino excused himself to wash his face and he went to the shower room. When he got there he forgot to bring a towel so he went back to collect it. When he got back, he caught Rukawa mopping the floor while staring very intently at Luka who was busy washing his mop. Rukawa didn't seem to notice Koshino there and that he had been mopping the same spot for eight minutes, which was already as shiny as a disco ball. 

Koshino didn't know how to react so he coughed to get attention. Rukawa immediately moved his head towards the opposite direction. Koshino grabbed a towel from his bag hastily and went back to the washroom.

10 minutes later, Kirin and Sakuragi arrived. Rukawa's eyes rolled, luckily, only Koshino noticed it. 

"We're just in time. Ey, Kosh, why so early again, huh? I know, you want to help Luka cos he arrives early and no one else helps him aside from useless Kitsune who's, well, as I've just mentioned, obsolete." Sakuragi said, his face cracking to an evil smile. Rukawa's eyes rolled. Kirin sweatdropped and said,

"Er, why don't we just start cleaning, ne? The seniors will arrive in no time."

They mopped the floor while Kirin polished the balls. Rukawa, Koshino couldn't stop noticing, was stealing glimpses of Luka every five seconds.

_So Mitsui and I are not alone. Hell, Hiroaki, what are you thinking? It's none of your business. Koshino thought._

They finished cleaning before Miyagi arrived. Minutes later, Ayako arrived with Mr. Anzai. Ayako had told him about the practice game and he was very glad about it. He asked the team to listen to him for a while. 

"I'm glad that you managed to beat Shoyo without me," his eyes on Miyagi and Mitsui who seemed to be overwhelmed by this. "I hope you'll show the same teamwork in the next season. You all did a great job, I suppose."

They had practice 'til 4. Miyagi had stopped ignoring Ayako. He had been a bit warmer towards Koshino as well, _Maybe Ayako had talked to him. He thought. _

Everybody left the gym at exactly 4:30 except for Mr. Anzai and Ayako who were talking about offering a practice game to Kainan. 

Ron and Mitsui said goodbye to everyone and rode home. Miyagi left with Sakuragi, Kirin and Yasuda. Rukawa was waiting for Luka who was fixing his stuff.  

Koshino biked his way home without thinking of Ayako. When he got home, his brother told him that Sendoh called. His heart almost leaped with this news though he didn't know why. He missed him but he didn't want to admit it.

He dialed Sendoh's number.

"Hello. May I speak with Akira?"

"This is Akira, Hiroaki?"

"Yeah, it's me. Waki said you called, er, what about it?"

"I was just wondering, well, would you go out-I mean-there is this film The Count of Monte Cristo, that's your fave book, right?"

Koshino paused, _it's okay if I see it twice he thought but, "Er, I've seen it…but if you wanna watch it I'd be glad to accompany you,"_

"Ah, it's okay. What about another movie?"

"Sure. Well, I guess we just check out what's showing when we get there."

"Right. So when?"

"When are you free?"

"I'm not doing anything today, tomorrow I'll have practice."

"I'm not busy at the moment as well."

"Ah…can I see you at 7?"

"Alright, then…well-"

"Yes?"

"Well, I'll see you later, bye." 

When Koshino arrived at their meeting place, he realized that Sendoh had been waiting for more than half an hour.

"Sorry I'm late, dad was home and I-"

"That's okay, we're just in time."

They made their way to the cinema. When they got there they couldn't decide what to watch. Truly, Koshino didn't care, he was just happy to be with Sendoh again. Sendoh, on the other hand, was so picky when it comes to movies.

"Why don't we just, er, I know you're not quite fond of it, but let's just check out what's new in the Arcade Center?" Koshino proposed. Sendoh agreed at once, _It'd still be a good night he thought. _

They decided to play Tekken 4, Koshino challenged Sendoh and thought for sure that it'd be a piece of cake though he didn't usually play the game. _So what? I'm an expert in Tekken 3, sure there's not much difference and Akira doesn't usually go here. Koshino thought, he also had a Playstation at home. He chose Paul Phoenix while Sendoh chose Yoshimitsu. _

However, he was wrong, Sendoh was good and he seemed to have memorized Yoshimitsu's every special move. 

"I didn't know you play this much-I mean-you've never won against me in any fighting game, what happened, been hanging around here lately?" Koshino asked

Sendoh was to answer _No, it was because of **you, been acting down and lonely lately so mom and dad bought me a PS2. But he just said, "Well, mom said we wouldn't be going out of town this summer and that would be a boring vacation so I asked her to buy me a PS2."**_

"Really? Wow, I was begging dad to buy me one but Waki insisted that we should just buy an Xbox or a Gamecube, he said they're more advance."

"Wanna come over at my house this Friday? We'll have no practice, coach said we should have a break."

"Coach Taoka giving breaks? I mean, that'd be great but we'll have practice 'til 4 so…"

"You can come over anytime, you know." Sendoh said, Koshino couldn't help smiling.

At 10:30, they said goodbye to each other. Koshino made his way home, his heart couldn't help but leap. He wasn't sure if he liked what he was feeling.

Tomorrow came and again, Koshino reached Shohoku 30 minutes before the time. This time the gym had three occupants: Mitsui, Luka and Rukawa. Koshino greeted them and he called out to Mitsui.

"Mitsui-san, why so early?" 

"Nothing, just woke up early." He said as he went over to Koshino, "care for a walk?"

"That'd be fine." They left Luka and Rukawa to clean and went to the school grounds. Mitsui spoke,

"You see, I've just met with Kimi-chan an hour ago and he left earlier than expected so I just thought I'd better go here…" Mitsui started

"I see…hey, have you noticed something about Rukawa lately? Something out of ordinary?" Koshino asked

"Yes, he's been, well, compared to how he was last season, he's been being friendly to other people. I mean, it's about time, hell, he never talked to anyone before if it wasn't about basketball but now, I'm just glad about it."

"Is that so? You mean to say he's not really friendly? I mean, perhaps he's popular and he probably has loads of friends and fans."

"Fans, yes but friends, well, you can say Luka's his closest friend, he has never been close that to anyone before. True, he's very popular around here and he drives girls crazy for whatever reason, I mean, he sleeps in class and he's kinda slow and snob, I dunno, he's really strange. Why, is he your type-I mean- what brings you this interest?"

"No. I thought he was supposed to be like Sendoh, I mean, an outstanding player and every schoolgirl's dreamboat and popular and friendly and everyone's favorite and teachers' pet and all."

"Well, he doesn't care about anything except for basketball. He probably wouldn't look if a stray chick crossed his path. He doesn't even bother making friends with his classmates. But he managed to improve his grades for the sake of playing to the nationals."

"I see, well, do you think he's, er, you know, _gay like…?" Koshino finally asked. Mitsui stopped his pace and looked at him, slightly surprised._

"What made you think that?" Mitsui asked, still looking perplexed.

"Well, I was here yesterday quite early too and I, er, I wasn't spying I just observed that he had this certain interest on Luka. You know, staring at him every time out of everyone's notice, just like, well, me when I first got along with, er, you know, that." Koshino said, his face was as red as Sakuragi's hair. Mitsui, however, didn't seem to be listening, he was grinning evilly and his mind was obviously wondering off somewhere. So Koshino spoke again, "So, er, what do you think?" trying to snap Mitsui out of what he was thinking.

"We'll see about that-I mean-Luka's quite an adorable guy, you know good-looking, pleasant, cool and an excellent ball player. That's not as impossible as it may seem." Mitsui answered beaming handsomely, he couldn't hide his glee.

"Well, I'm just curious…I never thought of it at first, just like what I expected from Sendoh…but Mitsui-san, you're not gonna confront him, are you? It was just my view." Koshino asked Mitsui knowing the nosy git that he was.

"We'll learn the truth sooner than we expect. I'm not gonna squeeze anything from him or something, I'm thinking of something better…" Mitsui said still grinning.

"But what if I'm wrong? What if he just wants to have someone as a friend? Someone to talk to?" Koshino asked

"I know when a person's gay-I mean-trying wouldn't hurt anyone. Besides, if he really is, I can have a good job helping him make his move."

"Mitsui-san, this is getting too far, you're already making plans about something we're not sure of."

"Relax, Kosh. I'm a Tensai-I mean- I'm not gonna get you in trouble. Why don't we just head back to the gym, I think we had enough talk-I mean-walk"

They went back to the gym and had their practice. Koshino was relieved to see Miyagi acting the usual way again, Ayako seemed to have cheered him up very well.

TBC

**A/N: **If you review, we'll keep posting.


	21. Like a Stone

LIKE A STONE  
  
The practice ended and everyone was relieved by this, coach Anzai and Mitsui were talking at the corner when Miyagi came to Koshino,  
  
"Can I have a word?" he asked pleasantly, Koshino followed Miyagi just outside the gym. Koshino didn't expect this but his heartbeat remained at the same rate.  
  
"Sorry" Miyagi blurted out.  
  
There was little anger left in Koshino but Miyagi looked like he really meant it. "It's okay, I've completely forgotten about it.and I was the one who set the scene in the first place." Koshino said.  
  
"No really, it wasn't like me, I know I'm quite used to fights but I never acted like that whenever I'm mad.you know, Ayako means a lot to me, you don't know.and the thought of her being liked by someone else and her liking that someone else.it's just." Miyagi couldn't finish, Koshino seemed to understand this,  
  
"I know, I mean I shouldn't have, you know, just come to her and all without even thinking of what she already has." Koshino said. This words hit Miyagi and he started blushing,  
  
"No, you misunderstand, we're just friends, you know that, only we're very close."  
  
"Well it starts like that...uh, I really should get going, I'll be late for dinner, so, uh, see yah." Koshino said. Miyagi wanted to say more but it was getting awkward,  
  
"Yeah, see you tomorrow then."  
  
Koshino said goodbye to everyone. Meanwhile, Mitsui said goodbye to Ron.  
  
"Aren't you going home yet, Hisashi?" Ron asked his cousin. "No. you go ahead, I er, er, I have some business to uh, why don't you just hit the road." "Okay boss," Ron said sarcastically.  
  
Luka and Rukawa and Mitsui were the only ones left in the gym. Rukawa was in the shower.  
  
"So uh, Luka," Mitsui started, "do you go home in the same house-I mean- do you walk the same route as Rukawa's, you two are always together-I mean-"  
  
"Kaede's a good guy, he's really interesting, you know, he doesn't seem to have a lot of friends and talk a lot, but, it's better." Luka said in a very calm voice. An evil smile covered Mitsui's face.  
  
"I see, so you take interest in some lifeless driftwood who doesn't seem to know anything besides playing good ball," said Mitsui, not realising how tactless his remark was. Luka, however, just smiled blankly at him so Mitsui thought of another comment that would likely squeeze anything out of the boy.  
  
"Well, if it's what you like in a partner I have no objection whatsoever but I suggest you stick with someone more lively as you yourself seem bori- I mean- quiet," said Mitsui very quickly almost banging his head against the floor since he himself didn't take notice of his imprudence. Just then Rukawa came in to the scene seeming fresh from the showers. He looked at them for awhile and moved across the court. Mitsui suddenly broke the silence and said,  
  
"Luka and I here are just having a little chatter about you-I mean- about the team and all, so care to join us?" he asked, slowly and noticeably slipping his left arm across Luka's slender shoulders hoping Rukawa would shoot a sharp glance at both of them.  
  
"I'm going," was Rukawa's terse reply as he prepared his things. He didn't even look at them nor did he seem to mind they were at least there.  
  
"I'll walk with you," said Luka, finally speaking. He straightened up as Mitsui's arm slides away from him, "Are you staying here longer, Mitsui- sempai?"  
  
"No, I'll walk with you two, just in case some bummer come across and ruin your afternoon," said Mitsui. Anyone could tell there was a slight disappointment in his tone. However, he still wasn't to let go of the idea that Rukawa would react to this but the two just nodded.  
  
In truth, Rukawa only didn't have the courage to ask Luka to a one-on-one game. He had been thinking about it ever since he saw him play. He had been watching Luka's every move hoping he would catch the right moment to ask him and he did this everytime there were people around so he could show off and prove he was better. A challenge of skills. Competition. Nothing more than that. 


	22. All I Want

All I Want  
  
It seemed as though everything would turn out quite fine for Koshino that day; he had been reconciled with Miyagi, Ayako had been warmer to him, and he had been doing very well in practice for the last few days. Only one thing was missing.  
  
  
  
"I'm going to visit Akira, I'm going to ask him out this time," he thought to himself. Sendoh was always the one who would ask him out on a date and never had it been the other way around. It would certainly be a big surprise for the Ryonan superstar if he learned about it.  
  
"Hello, Mrs. Sendoh? Is Sen-I mean Akira home?" Koshino asked after he dialled Sendoh's number.  
  
"Hiroaki?! Is that you?" came Mrs. Sendoh's surprised voice.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I've been wondering if your son's busy today. We might wanna catch a movie," Koshino had no idea why Mrs. Sendoh had to be so shocked about his call.  
  
"Well, dear, my son's been in Osaka for 4 days. I'm quite surprised of all people he failed to inform you," this time her voice was calmer.  
  
"Oh! I see, but why the sudden hurry? The school's startin' in the next few days." Asked Koshino, grinding his teeth.  
  
"Well, he missed his cousin, that's all, or at least that's what he said,"  
  
"Oh, well thanks, Mrs. Sendoh. I'll just ring when he's home. Bye." Bastard, what the hell's with him anyway? Goin' to Osaka when school's about to start, hooking up with somebody else, I guess. Koshino thought angrily.  
  
Without anymore thought he left his home and headed straight to the park. He was thinking of biking his way in but decided it was better to walk under the setting sun. Apparently he had nothing else to do and since it wasn't practice day, sitting on an empty bench seemed to be the only reasonable compensation for playing ball. Suddenly an idea came to him  
  
"I'll ask her out. Surely, she wouldn't refuse. I bet she's home staring at her room's ceiling thinking of me," he was thinking but, "No, Miyagi's going to kill me again and besides only a steel faced donkey would ask for another blow after getting beaten up by a kung fu master,"  
  
He didn't notice that it was already dark. There was not a single star and grey nimbostratus clouds covered the sky, Oh nice. It's gonna rain after all. Well, I'd better be home before I soak myself with water. He thought as he ran home.  
  
"Good evening, son. Where have you been?" Asked his father who seemed to have just gotten home from work.  
  
"To the park," answered Koshino wanting to add sulking like an old cow.  
  
  
  
"Akira phoned in minutes before. You should've stayed here," interrupted his brother who was watching a game show  
  
"WHAT!" everybody stared at him, looking slightly surprised, "I mean, what did you tell him?"  
  
"What else could I have said?' his brother asked looking annoyed.  
  
Without a word, Koshino made for his room. He lied on his bed and stared at the ceiling. This is stupid, why did I think of asking him out in the first place? I just wanted company, why didn't I ask my new team mates to come with me? They're more fun to be with…why didn't I ask her out? Aargh what am I thinking, he'd make a bloody pulp out of me again...I'm not gonna let that… there's nothing wrong about it anyway, he doesn't own her…if she said no, I'm prepared for that…tomorrow I'll ask her, again. He was beginning to smile. 


	23. Universally Speaking

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING  
  
The practice started at 9 in the morning. Everyone seemed to be in the mood. Rukawa's fan club was already there with their banners and irritating cheers, only they weren't cheering only for Rukawa, they were cheering for Luka as well.  
  
"I just don't understand these girls, why do they love a pair of skinny driftwoods who can last the day uttering only two words- 'yes' and 'no'." Sakuragi complained angrily. Kirin just smiled at this.  
  
"Women, they usually go for the silent type, you know, with strong personality and, ehem, cute face, you can't find a lot of guys that suit their interests." Ron said, grinning as though he knew a lot about the subject.  
  
"Yeah right, as if Kitsune has a personality, he's only cute when he's mopping the floor. All he knows is nod and grunt." Sakuragi said.  
  
"You will never understand the mysterious ways of a woman unless you have experienced her yourself" Ron said, as though a mentor, teaching a bunch of innocent lads.  
  
"Oh, yeah, you don't have a single fan yourself, I doubt it if a girl has ever looked at you with your ridiculous hair and shrunken purple shirt and fitted leather pants…" Sakuragi muttered under his breath, this wasn't a good thing to say for Ron gave him a flaming stare. Kirin smelled trouble right away,  
  
"Why don't we just, er, have a game before training huh?" the freshman said pulling Sakuragi away, in attempt to prevent the impending spark.  
  
"We don't start a game without warming up, Ikeda." Ron said, still staring at Sakuragi.  
  
"You're not taking this too seriously, are you sempai? It's just a talk about women, right?" Kirin asked nervously.  
  
"No, but suppose a lovely girl being chased by goons came running to this gym while we are having practice, she stops when she sees that the gym is full of young lads, us, that is. To whom do you think would she run to, to ask for protection?" Ron asked Kirin, conceitedly stroking his long, black, shiny hair. Sakuragi was eagerly waiting for the freshman's reply and found himself bragging,  
  
"That's easy, she would go for the most buffed-bodied one, that is, most defined set of abs, massive biceps, long legs, tanned-skin, fierce eyes, red head sophomore-" but before Sakuragi could finish Ron was shaking his head gravely, as though someone had just done a serious mistake,  
  
"Think again, fool, she hasn't got enough time to scrutinize each of us, what's you're answer Ikeda?" again, Ron asked Kirin who seemed to think that Sakuragi had a good point but he took in what the senior had just said.  
  
"Well, I, er, if she hasn't got time, well she'd probably go for the nearest one…yeah, that's logical, right?" the freshman said with a grin as though it would fix the pointless chat. The anticipation on Ron and Sakuragi's face faded,  
  
"Okay what if we're all in the same spot? What then?" Ron asked irritably.  
  
"Well," Kirin gulped for he knew both wouldn't like the answer in his head, "To tell you the truth, I suppose she wouldn't go to anyone of you two…if, you'd ask me as what you just did, I, er, she would…" He was searching for the right words to avoid offending the two.  
  
"Well? Spit it out, kid." Sakuragi said, his eyes not living Kirin's.  
  
"She would definitely go for the most approachable-looking one, I mean that's easy to distinguish. I mean, you two, you don't look too good-I mean- you're not even nice-looking, I'm not saying you yourselves look like goons…I'd say she'd go for Koshino-sempai or Luka-sempai. But since Luka-sempai looks less than very approachable, definitely Koshino-sempai " Kirin said staring at the floor as though he was expecting two blows in the head. Ron and Sakuragi weren't as furious as expected. They were shaking their heads slowly. Ron placed a hand on Kirin's shoulder and said sadly,  
  
"I'm sorry boy, but, it's doubtful you'll find yourself a good girl. Hiroaki Koshino…bad choice. You mean to say he's the most attractive guy around here? You must be forgetting about Hisashi Mitsui and, oh my God, ehem…me" Ron said looking sincerely grave.  
  
"I didn't say anything-"  
  
"I'd have to side with Ron in that." Sakuragi said , looking disappointed in Kirin, and turned to Ron, "Well, Ron, what about one on one with me?"  
  
"try me."  
  
With this Kirin sighed. What answers did they want? Anyway, anyone would have given the same answer.  
  
Just then, Kaede Rukawa, the lethal weapon of Shohoku basketball team, stepped on the newly polished floor. He was looking intensely at Luka and wasted no time to approach him.  
  
"One-on-one game?" he asked without a trace of embarrassment. 


	24. One On One

ONE ON ONE  
  
Luka stared for a moment. It appeared that he had been contemplating on a math problem he was just given the class before and it took several seconds before the value of the question sank to him.  
  
"Fine," he answered seeming unruffled.  
  
Sakuragi's hatred for Rukawa seemed infinitely abysmal by the moment Luka took the challenge. He and Ron would certainly slip away from the centre of attention once the two took off and get on with their game. They had always been the subject of schoolgirls' petty chatter and a game between them would no doubt be the topic of conversation for the next few days.  
  
"What an insolent teme, I'll have him reduced to ashes," Sakuragi thought to himself. It was quite surprising that he didn't utter it aloud as he usually did.  
  
"You know, Sakuragi, this is such an exciting match to miss. I say we continue our game later once Luka had Rukawa turned to a muddy smug," Ron told Sakuragi, his lips curling to a mischievous smile.  
  
"Oh, come on, Ron. These two are interrupting the defining moment of my talent. Are you just to let go of the chance when girls would have to scream your name-"  
  
"Go for it, Luka! Yeah, that's right, reverse it and go for the score!" Apparently Ron had been too busy watching the game and took no heed of a word Sakuragi was saying.  
  
Sakuragi was now suffering from hysteria, he couldn't believe Ron had no intention whatsoever to rival Rukawa's popularity and this angered him so that he picked up the ball he and Ron had been using and slammed it right behind Ron's head. The latter, however, didn't seem to notice it and went on cheering for Luka, jumping up and down as though he had just won the lottery.  
  
Every eye was on Luka and Rukawa now. It was like watching an 18th century European execution of a well known man where a guillotine blade drops off his neck cutting it neatly and almost perfectly. The score was even: 2 to 2. Sakuragi seemed the only who was not anxious about who was winning and it pained him to see Rukawa again claiming the glory of it all. Without anymore complain, he sat beside Ron and cheered for Luka.  
  
"Yeah, that's right, Luka. Shove him off his feet and drag him out of this building!"   
  
But Luka must have been the nicest player Shohoku ever had for he barely tried to make contact with Rukawa. His movements were so smooth and angelic that everyone there would've thought the scene was in slow motion.   
  
"You see those moves, Sakuragi. That ought to be a requirement for entering a basketball team but that would leave only three of us in this poor team: Luka, Hisashi, and ME," Ron said suddenly, his eyes fixed on Luka.  
  
"You're nuts, you should be in street ball hanging out with some wanted crooks," answered Sakuragi, "So, when are we going back with our one on one game?"  
  
"After I'm done with the winner of this match," Ron nodded at both Rukawa and Luka who were dripping with sweat beads.  
  
Sakuragi couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to smack Ron with a folding chair but before he could pick one up a whistle blew behind him. It was Ryota Miyagi, captain of Shohoku basketball team. With him was Hisashi Mitsui. The game stopped at an instant at 3 to 3 on the score board.  
  
"I would not risk any injury at the present since the official season starts in a week before now, I order this game to be cancelled at once. Now, be prepared for a new offensive strategy-" Miyagi was cut short by Ron who seemed as though his birth date had just been obliterated from the calendar.  
  
"But, captain, this is a once in a lifetime match. Do you realise what it means to every player you have in this team?"  
  
"No," said Miyagi curtly and went on, "As I was saying-"  
  
"Hisashi, This match, it's preposterous to have it stopped or even postponed-" Ron suddenly turned to his cousin for some support but,  
  
"No, Ron." Said Mitsui glaring at his cousin as he turned to everyone, "Miyagi and I have been conducting nocturnal meetings to come up with an ingenious tactic that would prove to be the doom of every team who would go against Shohoku Basketball Team,"  
  
Mitsui and Miyagi, it turned out, had been working laboriously on the said strategy for the last few nights. It was a rather good basketball move invention that everyone was in suspicion that both spent ages in the public library studying basketball manuals. But it wasn't so, Miyagi and Mitsui did think about this new move. As afternoon arrived, the team was dismissed and everyone was in a rather good mood except Ron and Rukawa. Ron had been too disappointed at Mitsui's behaviour that he drove away right after the practice without hitting the showers. This he did on purpose so that Mitsui would walk his way home alone and not with Ron in his black two sitter sports car.  
  
Somewhere In The Middle  
  
  
  
After the practice,  
  
I have to do It now, no time will be better. If I don't, then I won't. Koshino was gathering all his courage, after all, Miyagi is in the shower.  
  
  
  
He walked towards Ayako who was busy with her record book. He tried to avoid a scene but it was no use, he looked nervous beyond obvious. Sakuragi stopped fixing his stuff to watch him, Mitsui and Kirin looked away.  
  
  
  
"Er, are you busy?" He asked the beautiful manager.  
  
  
  
"Not really…er, you did great today, I mean, the practice." She said grinning, starting to blush.  
  
Mitsui went to the shower room, Kirin and Sakuragi followed. They knew better than stopping Koshino.  
  
"You were watching-I mean-of course, you should…you noticed then." Koshino said, slightly flattered. Ayako started to blush even more.  
  
"well, I'm supposed to monitor each of you."  
  
"Yeah. Uh, I never got to, er, how am I gonna say…uh, would you…are you and Miyagi together?" he managed to ask before he could stop himself. Ayako looked at him for a while then,  
  
"No, it's…it's not in my mind right now. It's hard to choose, you know…"  
  
"Between me and him?" Koshino asked, not too boldly.  
  
  
  
"Uh, between that and basketball."She clarified.  
  
"Oh, sorry. But, I've been thinking, if I'm not gonna tell you this now, then I probably won't. would you-"  
  
"Listen, I'd love to but under such circumstances it's quite hard to take the opportunity. Miyagi's been acting warmly towards me and I think I owe him that for some reason and if we do something that would be a cause of another fit of his anger I guess it would be more than he could handle. I know what he feels about me as well as its dangers," Ayako said all this very fast but Koshino didn't seem to miss a thing.  
  
"So this is what it's all about? Miyagi this and that? Look, I just happen to find it unfair you wouldn't even give me a chance. If all your decisions would have to depend on the mood of Miyagi-" Koshino said in a half loud tone but Ayako took over,  
  
"Not quite. If you're taking this against the captain then please put aside all your thoughts at the moment because it's unhealthy for the team. Secondly, nobody would want a bloody injury since the games are nearing, and lastly, I am trying to decide independently as much as possible but…" She faltered, Koshino struck the reality behind it all.  
  
"But you couldn't. You see, you're afraid he would beat me up like a punching bag again for coming near you and all," Said Koshino. Ayako tried to open her mouth but found no words to say so Koshino went on, "Listen, it's getting late and I'd better be going. If you change your mind about this just give me a ring and I'll pick you up at 7 this coming Sunday," He lifted up his bag, gave her a smile and winked, "Bye." He said speeding down the road. She covered her face when Koshino had gone.  
  
"What's wrong, Aya-chan?" Miyagi had just came out of the shower. Mitsui, Kirin and Sakuragi were behind him, looking quite relieved that Koshino had gone.  
  
"Nothing, I'm okay, just a headache. You see, I have to go, bye now." She went to go before Miyagi could react.  
  
Saturday afternoon.  
  
Koshino dialled Ayako's number.  
  
"Haven't decided yet?" Koshino asked Ayako.  
  
There was a long pause, then,  
  
"Listen, Hiroaki, you know this is not a good idea, I know you find it unreasonable but it's just not something worth risking. I'm really sorry."  
  
Koshino wanted to punch the receiver and out of his control, he said,  
  
"I'll be there in 10 minutes, bye."  
  
And there was the busy tone. Ayako couldn't believe this. He was giving her more headache. 


	25. Somewhere in the Middle

Somewhere In The Middle  
  
  
  
After the practice,  
  
I have to do It now, no time will be better. If I don't, then I won't. Koshino was gathering all his courage, after all, Miyagi was in the shower.  
  
  
  
He walked towards Ayako who was busy with her record book. He tried to avoid a scene but it was no use, he looked nervous beyond obvious. Sakuragi stopped fixing his stuff to watch him, Mitsui and Kirin looked away.  
  
  
  
"Er, are you busy?" He asked the beautiful manager.  
  
  
  
"Not really…er, you did great today, I mean, the practice." She said grinning, starting to blush.  
  
Mitsui went to the shower room, Kirin and Sakuragi followed. They knew better than stopping Koshino.  
  
"You were watching-I mean-of course, you should…you noticed then." Koshino said, slightly flattered. Ayako started to blush even more.  
  
"well, I'm supposed to monitor each of you."  
  
"Yeah. Uh, I never got to, er, how am I gonna say…uh, would you…are you and Miyagi together?" he managed to ask before he could stop himself. Ayako looked at him for a while then,  
  
"No, it's…it's not in my mind right now. It's hard to choose, you know…"  
  
"Between me and him?" Koshino asked, not too boldly.  
  
  
  
"Uh, between that and basketball."She clarified.  
  
"Oh, sorry. But, I've been thinking, if I'm not gonna tell you this now, then I probably won't. would you-"  
  
"Listen, I'd love to but under such circumstances it's quite hard to take the opportunity. Miyagi's been acting warmly towards me and I think I owe him that for some reason and if we do something that would be a cause of another fit of his anger I guess it would be more than he could handle. I know what he feels about me as well as its dangers," Ayako said all this very fast but Koshino didn't seem to miss a thing.  
  
"So this is what it's all about? Miyagi this and that? Look, I just happen to find it unfair you wouldn't even give me a chance. If all your decisions would have to depend on the mood of Miyagi-" Koshino said in a half loud tone but Ayako took over,  
  
"Not quite. If you're taking this against the captain then please put aside all your thoughts at the moment because it's unhealthy for the team. Secondly, nobody would want a bloody injury since the games are nearing, and lastly, I am trying to decide independently as much as possible but…" She faltered, Koshino struck the reality behind it all.  
  
"But you couldn't. You see, you're afraid he would beat me up like a punching bag again for coming near you and all," Said Koshino. Ayako tried to open her mouth but found no words to say so Koshino went on, "Listen, it's getting late and I'd better be going. If you change your mind about this just give me a ring and I'll pick you up at 7 this coming Sunday," He lifted up his bag, gave her a smile and winked, "Bye." He said speeding down the road. She covered her face when Koshino had gone.  
  
"What's wrong, Aya-chan?" Miyagi had just came out of the shower. Mitsui, Kirin and Sakuragi were behind him, looking quite relieved that Koshino had gone.  
  
"Nothing, I'm okay, just a headache. You see, I have to go, bye now." She went to go before Miyagi could react.  
  
Saturday afternoon.  
  
Koshino dialled Ayako's number.  
  
"Haven't decided yet?" Koshino asked Ayako.  
  
There was a long pause, then,  
  
"Listen, Hiroaki, you know this is not a good idea, I know you find it unreasonable but it's just not something worth risking. I'm really sorry."  
  
Koshino wanted to punch the receiver and out of his control, he said,  
  
"I'll be there in 10 minutes, bye."  
  
And there was the busy tone. Ayako couldn't believe this. He was giving her more headache.  
  
BLACK HOLE SUN  
  
He was having second thoughts about pressing the doorbell. Here goes nothing. Koshino thought.  
  
It was she who opened the door.  
  
  
  
"Come in." Ayako said.  
  
"er, hi." He said awkwardly and followed her into the living room. He sat down opposite her and before he could start,  
  
"Listen, I've been thinking about this for quite a time as well and, I think I know what should be done though you probably wouldn't consent to this. The games are starting next week and it's high time we settle any burdensome issues on the way. Hiroaki Koshino, if there's anything you feel about me, say hatred or affection, please kindly put them aside or better, forget about it," she said filled with consternation and well, pity.  
  
"So, basically you're asking me to pretend I don't feel anything for you which is no worse than revealing that you're choosing him over me, well I guess that's how it goes when you come too late," said Koshino rather indignantly.  
  
"No. It means that I'm neither choosing Ryota Mityagi over you nor you over Ryota. None. I guess that's all." She said. It was surprising that she wasn't offended by Koshino's despicable tone.  
  
"And what do you suppose I am to do? Just go away and be like a loser? You know, I'm quite displeased by the fact that I hoped so much and in the end get nothing, not even consolation. You're the one who gave me reason to feel like I was up to something with you and now, huh." Said Koshino, his anger increasing each second.  
  
"Well, while I must've done anything of the kind you said I did, I, however, did not confirm anything to you. You're the one who expects so much with so little assurance. You know, I'm not used to this kind of conversation so I'll just admit this is my fault and apologise to you for the sake of ending it, and it must've been my fault really, anyway. Sorry." Ayako now seemed to be in equal anger with Koshino.  
  
"That's nice…I do not completely agree with this but since I've no choice left, I accept. And I'm sorry too. But I just want it to be fair and I know this will leave you caught in between…will you treat us, I mean, Miyagi and me with equal attention and importance? I'm not your mom to ask this of you but I believe it will avoid misunderstandings." Koshino said, not knowing how much he had just asked of her.  
  
"Of course, that'd be fair enough since I'm partly responsible for bringing this all up and I think the captain would understand this too although he doesn't even know anything yet. But there is one thing I want to say to you before we part this evening,"  
  
"What's that?' asked Koshino still hoping she would give him a hint of hope.  
  
"Well, it's amazing how far you would go to try to succeed in the matter, you know, but please think for yourself if it's really worth it, like getting beaten up badly, not being able to sleep all night-"  
  
"If you're in love I guess you tend to sacrifice everything," interrupted Koshino but,  
  
"Not that. It's just that maybe you're doing all this stuff because of your pride, maybe it's that that pushes you to do silly things. Just this: you don't need to be in a relationship to be satisfied, there are a whole lot of things that could indemnify for what you thought you lost," Ayako said seriously. She seemed to have placed all her principles at Koshino's foot at the moment, hoping he would pick them up.  
  
"Well, maybe so is the case for other people but as for me, I don't know. Well, I'm sorry to have disturbed you tonight. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Koshino said preparing to leave.  
  
"Goodbye, then." Ayako said feeling relieved.  
  
Koshino drove home, his head filled with Ayako's last words. Maybe she's right, I mean it's amazing she doesn't want to get herself a boy right now when every girl her age would've loved to. Maybe I'm just stupid to think a relationship would make up for everything, sigh. He thought feeling more embarrassed than he had ever been. 


	26. Far Behind

FAR BEHIND  
  
He laid awake still thinking of what she told him. Everything else seemed forgotten. What else could he hope for? He could just throw it all away and have nothing. He didn't want anyone to comfort him.  
  
Koshino woke up the next morning; his eyes were bulging in obvious lack of sleep. He went out of his room for food. Before he reached the fridge, the phone rang, it was Sendoh.  
  
"Is that you Hiroaki?"  
  
"Akira…er, hi."  
  
  
  
"How are you? I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier. I went to visit my cousin for a few days…I called there the day before but they said you were at the park. What's been happening to you lately?" Sendoh asked without stuttering.  
  
"I don't feel like talking about it but, I think I have to." Koshino was feeling so down at the moment, Sendoh almost didn't hear anything.  
  
"what is it?"  
  
  
  
"Do you remember this girl I was talking about?"  
  
"Shohoku team's manager?"  
  
"Yeah, well, I got busted."  
  
There was a long silence until Sendoh spoke,  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"That's not what I need to hear, Akira, you tell me I'm stupid." Koshino said in a very demanding tone.  
  
"you're not, we all make mistakes."  
  
"That's what they always said, man, I really like this girl, I think if we're gonna remain like this forever, I'll have no one else, do you understand? I know I shouldn't be saying things like this to you but you're…you know, closer to me than anyone else." Koshino said, his voice slowed down as he finished.  
  
"You can actually tell me whatever you like. I mean, what are friends for?" Sendoh said.   
  
  
  
"I know. Look, what am I to do?"  
  
  
  
"Can't you just settle for awhile? I mean, look at me, I've completely gotten over everything. Can't you just stay for a year without, you know, certain someone? There are more interesting and important things than that. Basketball is one." Sendoh said patiently.  
  
Koshino didn't know if this is what he wanted to hear. He's gotten over Sendoh a long time ago but he knew it was so much better if they were together.   
  
"I never should've left Ryonan, I never would have been like this, and I've been trying to get it outta my head but…I know I like basketball more than girls but it gets in the way. I'm afraid I won't do well during the season and make a fool of myself in front of her, all because of this," Koshino sounded as if he was going to cry.  
  
"You're a lot better than that, you know it. You're the one who's always spirited and lively and you don't simply let matters go in the way-"  
  
"I don't want compliments thrown at me when I've just done something so unforgivable." Said Koshino hurriedly as though he didn't want Sendoh praising him and all.  
  
"Unforgivable to whom?"  
  
"Well, who else? To her, to Miyagi, and to you,"  
  
"I already said I understood what you felt for her. I thought it's been settled…listen, don't blame yourself for something as natural as falling for someone else because it's just sad to think you're not even happy." Sendoh finished, his voice more melancholic than it had ever been.  
  
"I deserve this."  
  
Sendoh couldn't think of another consolation. He knew Koshino had hurt him beyond his own understanding but there was no way he was going to put that on Koshino's face. He loved him dearly.  
  
"Look, don't put too much burden on your back; it will affect your performance. Just think that we'll be playing in the Nationals, that'll cheer you up," Sendoh finally managed to say after a long silence.  
  
"You're completely right. God, I can't believe I've been fussing over this stuff when the season's nearly starting."  
  
Their conversation ended amiably and Koshino never thought he would find comfort in anyone when he least hoped it. 


	27. No Cigar

NO CIGAR  
  
The season had just started. The games had been duly scheduled and Shohoku had had its tightest practice that morning which resulted to several complains and arguments.  
  
"Can't we take a minute off?! Really, even professional players do take a break once in awhile during practice," Ron said seeming to address those who were in charge.  
  
"Tomorrow will be our first game! You're just lucky we didn't have to play today but if we did, I'm sure-" Miyagi spat back but,  
  
"Captain, we're only reserves. Do we have to take the same amount of tor-I mean exercise as much as they do?' Kuwata, a sophomore asked pointing at the members of the first line up.  
  
"Yes. Because if I and Yasuda got injured at the same time, you'll have to back us up. Now if you don't mind you should get on with the game,"  
  
"But we're facing the lamest team in the league, remember? Why so stressed?' Kirin piped up.  
  
"Because if we lose to that lamest team you're referring to we're just gonna have to pull up those who messed up. Any more complains?" Mitsui broke in with obvious indignation.  
  
"Yes. What's the fucking deal about tomorrow's game? What, you're scared they're gonna trash us out like what Kainan did to you last season?" Ron said. This shut everybody up. It was the last thing any Shohoku member wanted to hear and Ron just hit the taboo. Sakuragi's face hardened. Koshino, Yasuda, Kakuta and Kuwata pretended they didn't hear anything while Miyagi went red with fury. Mitsui didn't move for a moment but after awhile said,  
  
"I'm not afraid to lose." He said. "But I hate it so much. Probably as much as I hate you now. If you don't want to practice, that's fine, but be sure to beat the hell out of Soichiro Jin once we get to face Kainan this season. Or else you're stripped off from the first line-up. Understand?" He finished with a supercilious glance on his beautiful eyes.   
  
"And now you're leaving some unfinished business to your predecessor. I get it. If you can't finish him off with your jump shots don't force me to 'cos I ain't fillin up your shoes-"  
  
"There's nothing to fill up, Ron. Shohoku reached farther than Kainan did in the Nationals. They beat the best highschool team in Japan," Koshino came in. "Listen, we have to work on this, if we didn't make it to the nationals I wouldn't be able to look Sendoh in the face."  
  
For the first time, Miyagi agreed with Koshino. "If Ryonan makes it to the Nationals, that's another obstacle, I'm sure Sendoh has transformed his team into something more fearsome. But before we dream about getting too high into the Nationals, there is no Nationals if there's no Finals. So you know what it'd be like not making it to the top of this season. This is another chance for us, let's not waste it" Miyagi said as-a-matter-of-factly. Ayako smiled admiringly.   
  
Ron turned away, picked a towel up and said, "Okay, let's get it on." He was embarrassed but he wouldn't apologise, he wouldn't show it.  
  
"Maybe in fifteen-minute time, I'll have to discuss something with coach." Miyagi said and nodded to Mitsui.  
  
"You go ahead and warm yourselves up, after that, the real training begins." Mitsui said seriously.  
  
"Sure." Ron said without looking. He tied his hair, took something out of his bag and went outside the gym. His team mates just looked at him but no one dared to stop him. He left his bag anyway, he wouldn't miss practise.   
  
After five minutes, Mitsui, Miyagi, Ayako and coach Anzai were still discussing. Koshino decided to check out on Ron thinking that he had offended the latter from what he said earlier. He found him outside, his back against a tree, smoking his cigarette.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
Ron just nodded.  
  
"I once tried smoking you know, but I stopped because it might ruin my health." Koshino said, trying hard not to sound like a good-for-everything fellow.  
  
"It's not right, you know." Ron said absentmindedly.  
  
"What? Smoking?"  
  
"No, the way they treated me out there. It's stupid and unreasonable. Just because they didn't beat Kainan last season they've become bitter and stuff."  
  
"My previous team lost to Shohoku and Kainan and, sad to say, we were much more bitter than these guys are. Not making it to the Nationals when you have the best team mates sure was a hard blow," Koshino said gloomily.  
  
"I'm not apologising. It's not my fault they lost, anyway. And besides, Hisashi's the one who messed up his game. If he didn't quit he could've been better than that Maki, he shouldn't have been fainting and all during games. How lame." Ron said bitterly.   
  
"Mitsui's working hard to help the team to make up for what he missed. You should appreciate that. And even if he did miss a lot he's still one of the top shooting guards in the prefecture."  
  
Ron didn't say anything.  
  
"Listen, I abandoned my team not for nothing. I was supposed to be sub captain and thought I was wasting so much to end up in leaving Ryonan but then all turned out well in Shohoku. This is so much better than I expected." Koshino said.  
  
"Well, what about me, huh? I was supposed to be team-captain when I left my old school. My dad transferred me here. I thought it would be great with Hisashi still working for the team but…"  
  
"But what?"   
  
"You're right…it's good to be here." Ron said and let out a deep sigh.  
  
"Shall we practise then?"  
  
"Sure."   
  
They both loved Shohoku. 


	28. The End is the Beginning is the End

The End of the Beginning is the End  
  
And so the season started with Shohoku's all new line up. There was an air of excitement among the crowd as the Shohoku Team was introduced and when it was Koshino's turn, a loud cheer broke up from the stands. He could see that a whole box was cheering for him. They were all in that familiar blue uniform with Japanese characters; Ryonan High. Koshino was on the verge of tears.  
  
Everyone except for the Ryonan crowd was wondering why Hiroaki Koshino, then of Ryonan High, was now happily playing for the Nationals bound Shohoku.   
  
  
  
Everyone was so surprised and impressed by the performance of Shohoku's new players, especially Ron who kept doing dunk shots even if it wasn't necessary. And from the bench, Mitsui kept cheering for him, he smiled at this.   
  
  
  
Sakuragi already had a name for himself: Rebound King. From the stands, he caught a glimpse of Takenori Akagi, who seemed to be very proud of his former team. The red-head saluted to him in return. Haruko was cheering aggressively for him and his bestfriends were no longer making fun of his wrong moves.  
  
Rukawa's fan club was now Rukawa-Luka fan club. They showed equal energy, it was hard to tell who was more skilful. But it wasn't necessary; they were in the same team after all. Competition among team mates was not required.   
  
Miyagi was glowing with his new uniform, jersey #4. He was more of a leader now, still, he kept looking at Ayako, apparently checking if she was impressed by his magnificent performance.  
  
The circulation of substitutes were fair, they all got to play even for a very little time. Kirin went red when he grabbed his first rebound, the opponents were shocked by how high he could jump. Sakuragi was cheering so loud.   
  
And when Koshino made for the court, the Ryonan crowd cheered even louder. Akira Sendoh was among them. In the midst of a hundred faces in the crowd, he spotted him.   
  
He smiled,   
  
He smiled back.   
  
…Kimi ga suki dato sakebitai ashita wo kaete miyo….  
  
END…whatcha think? Review please so we'll know whatcha think. 


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